i-'s.-*: 


my- 


LINCOLN 

LOVER  OF 

MANKIND 

ELIOT  NORTON 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A  Lover  of  Mankind 


Photograph  by  Gardner,  Washiugton,  D.  C. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


A  Lover  of  Mankind 


AN  ESSAY 

BY 

ELIOT  NORTON 


FRONTISPIECE 


Equality,  Fraternity  and  Liberty 


New  York 

MOFFAT,  YARD  AND  COMPANY 

1911 


Copyright,  1911,  by 
MOFFAT,  YARD  AND  COMPANY 
Nkiv  York 


Publislied,  September,  1911 


THE   QUINN    A    BODEN    CO.    PRESS 
i  RAHWAY,    N.    J. 


B3  H%%^ 


ff,,.'^A^.  ,<\ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A   LOVER    OF    MANKIND 

JNIosT  men  have  narrow  likings.  They 
like  particular  things,  certain  animals, 
some  men.  There  are  others,  however, 
who  have  broad,  catholic  and  compre- 
hensive likings.  These  men  like  whole 
classes  of  things  or  special  kinds  of 
animals.  Thus  some  like  pictures,  others 
books,  others  dogs,  and  others  horses,  and 
so  on.  Exactly  in  the  same  way  some 
men  like  mankind  generally,  and  accord- 
ingly in  their  relations  with  men  regu- 
larly show  "  liking,"  being  at  once  pleas- 
ant, kindly,  friendly,  genial  and  social 
and  not  cold  nor  sarcastic  nor  superior. 
Among  the  men  who  are  living  about  us 
those  that  have  most  of  this  disposition 
are  the  "  good  fellows,"  who  are  found 
in  every  club.  They  like  other  men  and 
are  genial,  friendly  and  social.    Usually, 

[1] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

However,  their  liking,  although  far  more 
broad  than  that  of  other  men,  is  still 
confined  to  men  who  belong  to  about 
their  station  in  life  and  have  about  the 
same  habits.  For  even  thev  talk  of  their 
"  inferiors,"  and  are  often  far  from 
kindly  to  servants.  A  liking  for  men 
which  is  comprehensive  enough  to  take 
in  men  of  all  kinds  and  stations,  rich 
and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  masters 
and  servants,  is  a  very  rare  disposition. 

So  rare  is  it  that  most  men  in  their 
journeying  through  the  world  never  meet 
with  a  single  instance  of  it,  no  matter 
how  long  their  lives  are  or  how  many 
men  they  meet.  So  rare  is  it  that  among 
men  living  in  the  public  eye  to-day  there 
is  not  one  who  has  this  disposition. 

To  bring  therefore  such  a  man  to  view, 
we  must  look  back  over  the  recorded 
dead, — a  long  list, — and  yet  singularly 
empty  of  such  men.  It  is  hard  to  find 
them.  Still  among  the  English  dead  two 
can  be  found  who  indubitably  had  a  lik- 
ing for  men  of  the  very  broadest  sort, 

[2] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

One  was  Chaucer  and  the  other  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott. 

That  Chaucer  had  this  disposition  all 
people  who  have  ever  noted  the  best 
evidence  of  it, — the  expression  of  his 
spirit  in  his  works, — agree  in  saying. 

James  Russell  Lowell  wrote:  ^  "  Chau- 
cer was  a  good  man,  genial,  sincere, 
hearty,  temperate  of  mind,  more  wise, 
perhaps,  for  this  world  than  the  next, 
but  thoroughly  humane,  and  friendly  with 
God  and  men.  .  .  .  We  are  sure  that 
here  was  a  true  brother-man,  so  kindly 
that  in  his  '  House  of  Fame,'  after  nam- 
ing the  great  poets,  he  throws  in  a 
pleasant  word  for  the  oaten  pipes 

'  Of  the  little  herd-grooms 
That  keepen  beasts  among  the  brooms/  " 

There  are  many  proofs  of  the  tiTith 
of  every  word  of  this  characterization. 
The  mere  scheme  of  the  Canterbury 
Tales  shows  it;  to  wit:  the  companion- 
ship of  a  number  of  people,  only  casually 
united,  who  willingly  and  socially  contrib- 

[3] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ute  to  the  pleasure  and  entertainment 
of  all  by  telling  stories.  What  is  this 
but  genial  fellow  feeling?  Moreover, 
story-telling  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  delightful  expressions  of  good  fel- 
lowship. Where  good  fellows  have  con- 
gregated, whether  in  the  earliest  days 
in  the  Cave  or  later  in  the  Market  Place 
or  in  modern  times  at  the  Club,  they  have 
told  good  stories.  Xobody  but  a  good 
fellow,  a  true  brother-man,  as  Mr.  Lowell 
so  happily  puts  it,  would  have  known 
this,  would  have  found  it  so  vital  to  his 
being,  so  inseparable  from  his  thought, 
as  to  make  it  the  medium  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed himself.  Le  style  c'est  I'homme. 
And  to  see  how  broad  and  catholic 
was  Chaucer's  liking  for  his  fellow  men 
one  has  only  to  turn  to  the  Prologue. 
Here  are  described  twenty-seven  people: 
a  Knight,  a  young  squire,  a  yeoman,  a 
prioress,  a  monk,  a  friar,  a  merchant, 
a  clerk  of  Oxenford,  a  sergeant  of  law, 
a  franklin,  a  haberdasher,  a  carpenter, 
a  weaver,  a  dyer,  a  tapicer,  a  cook,  a 

[4] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

shipman,  a  doctor  of  physic,  a  ^vife  of 
Bathe,  a  poor  Parson  of  a  Town,  a 
ploughman,  a  miller,  a  maunciple,  a 
reeve,  a  sompnour,  a  pardoner,  and  an 
inn-keeper, — all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men, — yet  Chaucer  shows  a  liking  for 
them  all.  Not  only  does  he  like  his 
Knight,  who  "  loved  chivalry,  truth  and 
honor,  freedom  and  courtesy;"  and  the 
poor  Parson,  who  was  "  a  good  man;" 
and  the  ploughman,  who  "  loved  God 
best  and  then  his  neighbor  right  as  liim- 
self;"  but  he  also  likes  the  shipman,  al- 
though "  of  nice  conscience  took  he  no 
keep;"  and  the  sompnour  who  could 
pluck  an  innocent;  and  the  miller  and 
pardoner  and  friar  and  wife  of  Bathe, 
although  no  more  than  the  shipman  and 
the  sompnour  did  they  of  nice  conscience 
take  heed;  and  so  on  with  the  rest  of  his 
twenty-seven, — to  no  one  of  whom  is 
Chaucer  ungenial  or  unfriendly. 

This  spirit  of  broad  humanity,  of  lik- 
ing all  men  of  all  sorts  and  conditions,  of 
friendliness,  of  sociability,  of  genial  en- 

[5] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

joyment  in  the  companionsliip  of  one's 
fellow  mortals  also  shows  itself  in  the 
special  importance  Chaucer  attributed  to 
it  by  giving  at  least  a  modicum  of  it  to 
almost  every  one  of  his  many  characters. 
The  inn-keeper  was  "  right  a  meny 
man;"  the  pardoner  could  sing  "full 
merrily  and  loud;"  "  a  better  fellow  than 
the  sompnour  men  should  not  find;"  the 
miller  w^as  a  jolly  joker  and  teller  of 
stories;  the  Knight's  son  was  a  gay  and 
cheerful  youth,  "  singing  or  fluting  all 
the  day;"  the  shipman  was  "certainly 
a  good  fellow;"  the  clerk  of  Oxenford 
had  a  pleasant  companionable  nature, 
"  for  gladly  would  he  learn  and  gladly 
teach;"  the  wife  of  Bathe  "in  fellow- 
ship well  could  laugh  and  talk "  and 
the  prioress  had  the  very  quintessence  of 
good  fellowship,  for 

''Sikerly  she  was  of  great  disport, 
And  ful  jyleasant,  and  amyahle  of  port. 
And  peynede  her  to  counterfete  cJieere 
Of  Court,  and  he  estatlich  of  manere. 
And  to  he  holden  digue  of  reverence," 

[6] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

Another  man  of  this  same  disposition, 
another  true  brother-man,  was  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott.  Though  some  men  are  unto 
honor  made  and  some  unto  dishonor,  yet 
all  are  made  by  the  same  maker  of  the 
same  clay;  and  this  clay,  whether  in  the 
shape  of  king  or  clown,  master  or  man, 
Scott  liked.  His  biographer  says:'  "I 
believe  Scott  has  somewhere  expressed  in 
print  his  satisfaction  that  among  all 
the  changes  of  our  manners,  the  ancient 
freedom  of  personal  intercourse  may 
still  be  indulged  in  between  a  master  and 
an  out-of-doors  sen^ant;  but  in  truth  he 
kept  by  the  old  fashion,  even  with  domes- 
tic serv^ants,  to  an  extent  which  I  have 
hardly  seen  practiced  by  any  other  gen- 
tleman. He  conversed  with  his  coach- 
man, if  he  sat  by  him,  as  he  often  did, 
on  the  box;  with  his  footman,  if  he 
chanced  to  be  in  the  rumble.  .  .  .  In- 
deed, he  did  not  confine  tliis  humanity  to 
his  own  people;  any  steady  ser\^ant  of  a 
friend  of  his  was  soon  considered  a  sort 
of  friend  too,  and  was  sure  to  have  a 

[7] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

kind  little  colloquy  to  himself  at  com- 
ing and  going."  This  is  corroborated  by 
the  expressive  phrase  of  one  of  these  de- 
pendants:^ "  Sir  Walter  speaks  to  every 
man  as  if  they  were  blood  relations." 
And  is  still  further  corroborated  by  the 
striking  words  of  his  friend.  Miss  Jo- 
anna Baillie,  w^ho  said:  "He  made  the 
auld  fish-wife  feel  that  she  was  as  good 
company  for  the  Shirra  (that  is,  the 
Sheriff,  Sir  Walter)  as  the  Shirra  was 
for  her."  *  And  his  genial,  kindly  nature 
is  also  testified  to  by  Tom  Moore,  no 
mean  judge,  who  described  ^  him  as  "  a 
thorough  good  fellow:"  and  by  a  man  of 
a  totally  different  disposition,  Words- 
worth, the  poet,  who  said,^  "  Wherever 
we  named  him,  we  found  that  the  word 
acted  as  an  open  sesamum;  and  I  be- 
lieve that  in  the  character  of  the  Sheriff's 
friends,  we  might  have  counted  on  a 
hearty  welcome  under  any  roof  in  the 
border  country."  And  Walter  Bagehot, 
who  of  all  English  critics  had  the  most 
knowledge   of  human   nature,   wrote   of 

[8] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

him  that,  "  In  his  hfetime  people  denied 
he  was  a  poet,  but  nobody  said  he  was 
not  *  the  best  fellow '  in  Scotland,  .  .  . 
or  that  he  had  not  more  wise  joviality, 
more  living  talk,  more  graphic  humor, 
than  any  man  in  Great  Britain."  ^ 

If  one  considers  the  characteristics  of 
this  disposition  it  can  readily  be  seen 
why  it  is  so  rare.  It  has  to  meet  the 
partial  hostility  of  both  Nature  and  So- 
ciety. For  while  both  these  favor  the 
existence  of  social  virtues,  yet  both  are 
opposed  to  the  catholicity  of  this  disposi- 
tion which  not  alone  tolerates  but  likes 
the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong,  the  unfit 
as  well  as  the  fit,  the  sinner  as  well  as 
the  saint,  the  outcast  as  well  as  the  elect. 

Then  too,  almost  every  fault  to  which 
the  human  race  is  prone  interferes  with 
this  disposition.  Selfishness  in  its  myriad 
forms,  envy,  hatred  and  all  uncharitable- 
ness,  malice,  hardness  of  heart,  cruelty 
and  want  of  feeling  all  stand  in  its  way 
and  check  it.  If  any  of  these  faults 
are  marked  in  a  man,  and  they  are  com- 

[9] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

mon,  such  a  disposition  cannot  also  exist 
in  him. 

Furthermore,  should  a  man  comhine 
great  abilities  with  this  disposition  he  will 
be  one  of  a  very  few  since  the  world  be- 
gan. For  a  sense  of  personal  distinction 
or  superiority  does  not  fit  with  this  broad 
liking,  any  more  than  with  the  Christian 
maxim — Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.  Great  abilities  are  rare  and 
great  men  human.  Such  men  are  ac- 
tually so  superior  to  the  common  herd 
that  it  would  be  unnatural  if  they  did 
not  recognize  this  daily  and  even  hourly. 
From  this  simple  recognition  to  only  the 
most  innocent  and  just  sense  of  supe- 
riority is  but  a  step.  Yet  that  step  puts 
a  broad  liking  for  men  forever  to  the 
rear,  so  often  to  be  left  farther  and 
farther  behind  as  pride,  vanity  and  arro- 
gance, the  ever  ready  companions  of 
greatness,  conduct  to  other  steps  away. 

What  is  rarest,  however,  is  for  a  man 
to  possess  this  disposition  and  combine  it 
not  only  with  great  abilities  but  also  with 

[10] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

high  public  station.  For  the  latter  almost 
necessarily  compels  the  acquirement  of  a 
manner  which  is  distant,  dignified  and  re- 
served, to  serve,  like  the  elaborately  for- 
mal etiquette  which  surrounds  royal  per- 
sonages, as  a  kind  of  protective  armor 
from  the  many  inconveniences  of  posi- 
tion. But,  however  necessary  and  useful, 
such  a  manner  is  fatal  to  the  maintenance 
of  genial  and  social  relations,  and  so  in 
the  passage  of  time  wears  away  any 
native  disposition  to  like  men  and  show 
them  friendliness. 

Besides,  great  public  men  are  very 
busy,  and.  much  occupation  with  one's 
thoughts  or  with  other  men  in  large  af- 
fairs does  not  permit  of  the  drafts  on 
one's  time  which  are  made  by  a  strong 
liking  for  men.  For  if  one  has  that,  one 
will  not  mind  any  interruption,  but  will 
be  glad  to  see  and  talk  in  a  friendly  and 
leisurely  w^ay  with  every  caller,  and  will 
spend  much  time  in  social  intercourse 
with  men.  This,  it  will  be  admitted,  is 
not  the  way  of  great  public  personages. 

[11] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Thus  it  is  that  among  the  recorded 
dead  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  find  any 
men  of  great  ability,  who  also  led  public 
lives,  who  had  this  disposition.  One  of 
the  very  few  who  had  in  full  measure  this 
genial,  kindly  fellow  feeling  was  Saladin. 
It  was  his  broad  humanity  and  liking  for 
men  more  than  anything  else  that  led  to 
the  admiration  in  which  he  was  held  by 
both  friend  and  foe.  Everybody  found 
him  as  they  did  Sir  Walter  Scott  "  a 
thorough  good  fellow."  His  biographer 
says,® — "  Far  from  adopting  an  im- 
posing mien  and  punctilious  forms,  no 
sovereign  was  ever  more  genial  and  easy 
of  approach.  He  loved  to  surround  him- 
self with  clever  talkers,  and  was  himself 
'  delightful  to  talk  to.'  .  .  .  His  sym- 
pathy and  unaffected  interest  set  every- 
one at  his  ease."  Saladin,  says  Abd-el- 
Latif,^  who  knew  him  well,  was  "  ap- 
proachable, deeply  intellectual,  gracious 
and  noble  in  his  thoughts.  All  who  came 
near  him  took  him  as  their  model.  .  .  . 
The  first  night  I  was  with  him  I  found 

[12] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

him  surrounded  by  a  large  concourse 
of  learned  men,  who  were  discussing  vari- 
ous sciences.  He  listened  with  pleasure 
and  took  part  in  their  conversations." 
Besides  enjoying  association  with  men, 
he  showed  his  liking  for  them  in  many 
ways,  especially  by  the  tender-hearted- 
ness, goodness  and  mercy  for  which  he 
was  famous.  The  Defender  of  the  True 
Faith,  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful  in 
a  Holy  War,  yet  he  was  naturally  averse 
to  bloodshed  and  unwarlike  by  nature. 
To  his  inferiors  in  position  he  was  very 
kind,  simple,  sympathetic  and  friendly. 
He  could  not  bear  to  have  his  servants 
beaten  in  an  age  when  the  beating  of 
servants  was  a  matter  of  course.  "  Our 
Sultan,"  says  Baba-ed-din,®  "  was  very 
noble  of  heart,  and  kindness  shone  in  his 
face."  His  life  was  full  of  kindly  acts 
to  men,  women  and  children. 

Apart  from  those  conditions  pertain- 
ing to  great  ability  and  public  station 
which  are  unfavorable  to  this  disposition, 
it  is  also  clear  that  it  cannot  be  congenial 

[13] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  aristocrats,  whether  they  be  really  so 
or  whether  they  in  conceit  think  they  are 
so.  Nor  does  it  matter  on  what  their 
aristocracy  is  founded,  whether  on  birth, 
intelligence  or  power,  or  on  wealth  or 
position.  Still  less  does  it  matter  whether 
it  is  located  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore  or 
in  Mud  Alley.  For  in  every  aristocracy, 
in  every  aristocrat,  the  essential  idea  is 
that  of  being  better  than  one's  neighbors. 
And  this  is  enough  to  prevent  a  Hking 
for  many  men, — one's  neighbors  being 
always  numerous  and  not  aristocratic. 

So  too  among  business  men  or  those 
engaged  in  competitive  pursuits  the  ele- 
ment of  conflict  which  is  involved  in  all 
business  and  competition  stands  in  the 
way  of  liking  the  men  you  meet  and 
treating  them  genially  and  socially.  In- 
deed, the  end  of  business  and  competi- 
tion is  to  get,  if  not  the  best,  at  least  the 
better  of  the  other  man.  Thus  in  cities 
where  "  the  eager  rivalry  of  life,  the 
cruel  conflict  for  pre-eminence,  the  quick 
seizure  and  fast  unrelaxing  hold  of  van- 

[14] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

tage  place,  the  stony  hard  resolve,  the 
chase,  the  competition,  and  the  craft  which 
seem  to  be  the  poison  of  our  lives,  and 
yet  are  the  condition  of  our  lives "  ^^ 
are  developed  to  their  highest  degree,  this 
virtue  of  a  general  liking  is  not  common. 
God,  it  is  said,  did  not  make  the  city. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  would  seem, 
judging  from  probabilities  alone,  that 
the  conditions  under  which  this  disposi- 
tion would  most  readily  flourish  would 
be  among  simple  people  living  simple 
country  lives, — "  under  the  shadow  of  the 
steeple," — far  from  the  madding  crowd, 
free  from  distinctions  of  rank.  And  it 
would  add  to  the  probabilities  if  all  this 
were  located  in  a  young  democracy  dedi- 
cated to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are 
born  equal,  and  in  which  to  a  great  extent 
all   men   were  equal. 

However  this  may  be,  the  disposition 
to  like  men  generally  was  in  some  degree 
of  magnitude  frequently  found  among 
native  Americans  who  lived  during  the 
first  seventy-five  years  of  the  last  century. 

[15] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

It  was  perhaps  the  greatest  as  well  as  the 
last  gift  of  the  young,  poor  Democracy. 
It  was  the  realization  by  the  people  of 
one  of  the  three  great  ideals  of  their 
form  of  government, — the  ideal  of  fra- 
ternity, of  being  brother-men.  And  it  is 
very  fine  and  striking  that  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, a  true  child  of  that  Democracy,  and 
its  last  President  before  the  changes 
which  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  and  the 
increase  in  Wealth  have  brought  about, 
should  have  been  endowed  with  this  dis- 
position raised  to  its  highest  excellence 
and  power.  "  He  was  naturally  dis- 
posed to  think  well  of  his  race.  His 
prepossessions  were  generally  in  favor 
of  a  man.  He  would  rather  love  than 
hate  him;  in  fact,  it  seemed  as  if  he 
could  not  hate  him  if  he  would."  "  "  He 
had  no  envy,  malice  or  spite — no  ill- 
feeling  of  any  kind  toward  anybody."  ^^ 
Throughout  his  life  he  gave  an  enor- 
mous number  of  manifestations  of  this 
liking  for  his  fellow  men;  and  liking 
can  be  shown  by  sociability,  by  kindliness 

[16] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

in  speech,  manner  and  act,  by  good  fel- 
lowship, and  by  humanity  and  in  many 
other  ways.  His  biographers  have  re- 
counted and  by  many  different  adjectives 
have  characterized  these  manifestations 
of  liking  on  his  part,  but  they  have  failed 
to  gather  them  together  and  so  to  clearly 
show  that  their  real  motive  force  lay  in 
a  disposition  to  like  mankind.  It  is 
therefore  certainly  justifiable,  although 
so  much  has  been  written  of  Lincoln,  to 
describe  his  disposition  with  considerable 
care  and  elaboration,  especially  in  view 
of  the  great  and  noble  light  it  casts  on 
his  character  and  acts.  In  doing  so  a 
word  of  warning  is  pertinent.  The  con- 
sideration of  one  great  quality  in  a  man, 
apart  from  his  other  characteristics, 
especially  with  the  cumulative  effect  pro- 
duced by  one  illustration  after  another, 
tends  to  give  an  exaggerated  notion  of 
it  and  to  dwarf  or  hide  his  other  quali- 
ties of  heart  and  mind,  intelligence  and 
character.  To  counteract  this,  one  must 
at  all  times  remember  that  Lincoln  had 
other  great  characteristics  as  highly  de- 

[17]  ^ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

veloped  as  his  disposition  to  like  men 
generally.  To  dwell  on  the  latter  is  not 
to  the  exclusion  of  his  other  traits.  In 
nothing  more  than  a  combination  of 
great  qualities  essentially  strong  and 
highly  developed  was  Lincoln  remark- 
able. But  not  until  we  appreciate  his 
great  qualities  taken  singly  can  we  esti- 
mate their  union  in  its  exceptionality, 
greatness  and  splendor. 

The  best  proof  of  a  disposition  to 
like  men  generally  is  to  be  fond  of  asso- 
ciating with  them.  For  everybody  en- 
joys being  w^ith  the  people  one  likes, 
The  adorer  is  happy  when  he  is  with 
the  adored,  and  the  man  who  likes  men 
enjoys  mixing  with  his  fellow  men  and 
having  them  about  him.  The  life  pur- 
sued by  the  recluse,  the  solitary  or  the 
anchorite  is  not  for  such  men,  while  a 
life  crowded  with  social  intercourse,  with 
minghng  with  people,  with  meetings,  is 
the  sort  of  life  in  which  their  nature  finds 
most  happiness  and  congeniality.  Thus 
they   have    a   pecuhar   fondness   for   all 

[18] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

festivities  and  merrymakings  and  all 
gatherings  where  friendliness  and  soci- 
ability are  displayed  and  inirth  and  jol- 
lity prevail.  In  such  meetings  their  dis- 
position manifests  itself  and  they  show 
the  liking  they  feel  by  being  at  once 
genial,  pleasant,  social  and  friendly. 
This  they  are  naturally,  unconsciously, 
and  without  an  effort,  for  it  is  the  appro- 
priate expression  of  their  own  unassumed 
feelings.  In  brief,  they  seek  compan- 
ionship and  are  good  companions,  they 
enjoy  fellowship  and  are  good  fellows. 
Lincoln  answers  to  these  tests.  Through- 
out his  life  he  felt  an  intense,  pleasurable 
emotion  in  companionship,  in  jollity  and 
in  good  fellowship. 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  with  whom  he  lived  as  a  boy 
and  young  man,  friendly  and  social  gath- 
erings were  customary  and  frequent,^  ^ 
making  due  allowance  that  these  people 
were  few  in  number  and  that  except  in  the 
settlements  they  lived  far  apart.  Chief 
among    these    were    weddings,    dances, 

[19] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

house  and  barn  raisings,  "  hoe  downs," 
corn  huskings,  quilting  parties  and  spell- 
ing bees.  To  all  of  these  Lincoln  liked 
to  go.  Lamon  says  ^*  that  when  not  in- 
vited to  a  merrymaking  he  "  got  mad.'* 
Then  there  were  sports  and  games  of  all 
kinds,  horse  races,  cock  fights,  trials  of 
strength,  wrestling  and  running  matches. 
These  too  he  liked  to  attend,  and  was 
himself  a  famous  wrestler.^^  Miss  Tar- 
bell  states  ^^  perceptively  that  "  the  sports 
he  preferred  were  those  that  brought  men 
together."  This  is  true,  and  it  explains 
why,  although  the  country  was  full  of 
game  and  all  men  commonly  hunted,  Lin- 
coln did  not;  it  was  a  too  solitary,  still, 
and  unsociable  way  of  spending  his  time 
to  suit  liis  nature. ^^ 

On  the  other  hand  he  loved  to  join 
any  crowd  of  men  that  were  socially 
passing  the  time  away  as  they  often  did 
at  the  store,  the  mill  or  the  blacksmith's.^^ 
At  such  gatherings  he  was  a  large  con- 
tributor of  humor,  geniality  and  mirth. 
He  did  so  in  various  ways.     He  made 

[20] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

comic  and  serious  speeches,  he  delivered 
mock  sermons,  he  retailed  the  news  of 
the  day,  he  sang  songs,  he  was  full  of 
jokes,  but  his  favorite  mode  was  to  tell 
humorous  stories.^^  His  cousin,  Den- 
nis Hanks,  says  that  "  in  Gentryville, 
about  one  mile  west  of  Thomas  Lincoln's 
farm,  Lincoln  would  go  and  tell  his  jokes 
and  stories,  etc.,  and  was  so  odd,  original 
and  humorous  and  witty  that  all  the  peo- 
ple in  the  town  would  gather  around  him. 
He  would  keep  them  there  till  mid- 
night." '' 

And  then  Dennis  adds  a  naive  touch, 
"  I  would  get  tired,  want  to  go  home, 
cuss  Abe  most  heartily."  How  often  in 
the  world  has  a  man  less  socially  inclined 
than  some  more  convivial  companion 
"  cussed  him  most  heartily  "  for  not  being 
willing  to  go  home. 

When  Lincoln  was  just  twenty-two,  he, 
w^ith  his  stepbrother  and  a  cousin,  went 
down  the  Sangamon  river  in  a  canoe. 
'Not  far  from  Springfield  they  pulled  out, 
cut    down   some    trees,    hewed    the    logs 

[21] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

square  and  then  rafted  them  down  to 
Sangamon  town.  There,  at  Kilpatrick's 
mill,  they  got  their  logs  sawed  and  out  of 
the  planks  built  a  flat  boat.  While  doing 
so  they  lived  in  a  shanty  and  boarded 
themselves,  Lincoln  acting  as  cook.  He 
is  described  ^^  as  being  "  funny,  jokey 
and  full  of  yarns,  stories  and  rigs."  It 
was  the  custom  in  Sangamon  for  the  men 
to  gather  at  noon  and  in  the  evening, 
when  resting,  in  a  convenient  lane  near 
the  mill,  where  they  had  rolled  out  a  long 
peeled  log  on  which  they  lounged  while 
they  whittled  and  talked.  Lincoln  did 
not  spend  his  hours  by  himself  about  the 
shanty  but  before  he  had  been  long  in 
Sangamon  joined  this  circle.  Although 
a  stranger,  he  at  once  became  a  favorite 
by  his  jokes,  stories  and  good  humor.  So 
irresistibly  droll  were  his  "  yams  "  that, 
says  an  eye  witness,  "  whenever  he'd  end 
up  in  his  unexpected  way  the  boys  on  the 
log  would  whoop  and  roll  off."  Presently 
out  of  compliment  to  the  story-teller  the 
men  christened  their  seat,  "  Abe's  log."  " 

[22] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

A  few  months  later  he  "  drifted  into  " 
the  now  long  vanished  town  of  New  Sa- 
lem. An  election  was  going  on  and  a 
crowd  had  gathered  round  the  polling 
place.  Lincoln  joined  it  and  when  the 
Clerk  of  Elections  wanted  help  he  quickly 
but  modestly  volunteered.  Later  on 
when  the  votes  came  in  slowly  and  things 
grew  dull  he  told  stories  to  amuse  the 
crowd.^^  All  this  is  thoroughly  char- 
acteristic of  a  disposition  to  like  men ;  and 
scenes  like  this  where  Lincoln  was  one 
of  a  crowd  and  told  stories  to  entertain 
it  were  of  constant  recurrence  through- 
out liis  life.  Even  when  engaged  in  some 
pursuit  which  was  intrinsically  silent  and 
solitary,  like  manual  labor  in  the  fields 
or  surveying,  his  disposition  manifested 
itself  in  this  way.  Thus  John  Romine, 
for  whom  he  sometimes  worked  as  a  day 
laborer,  had  cause  to  complain  and  "  used 
to  get  mad  at  him,"  for  Lincoln  "  would 
laugh  and  talk  and  crack  jokes  and  tell 
stories  all  the  time."  ^^  And  when  he  got 
a  job  of  surveying  "  there  was  a  picnic 

[23] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  a  jolly  time  in  the  neighborhood. 
Men  and  boys  gathered  from  far  and 
near,  ready  to  carry  chain,  drive  stakes 
and  blaze  trees,  if  they  could  only  hear 
Lincoln's  odd  stories  and  jokes.  The 
fun  was  interspersed  with  foot  races  and 
wrestling  matches."  "^  Such  narratives 
furnish  clear  proof  of  his  good  fellow- 
ship and  hking  for  men. 

The  town  of  New  Salem  in  which 
Lincoln  settled  was  a  small  and  very 
primitive  place,  yet  there  was  a  large 
variety  of  people  living  there  in  propor- 
tion to  the  actual  numbers  of  the  popula- 
tion, ranging  from  what  was  fine  if  un- 
polished to  what  was  very  rough."^  Lin- 
coln associated  with  everybody  on  the 
pleasantest  and  most  intimate  footing. 
The  best  men  of  the  town,  the  so-called 
Squire,  the  Minister,  the  tavern  keeper, 
the  schoolmaster,  the  village  loafers,  Jack 
Armstrong  and  the  *'  Clary's  Grove 
Boys,"  a  very  rough  lot,  were  all  his 
friends  and  so  were  their  wives  and 
children." 

[24] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

The  year  following  his  arrival  an  In- 
dian uprising  took  place,  which  gained 
the  name  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  Some 
regular  troops  took  the  field  and  volun- 
teers to  co-operate  with  them  were  called 
for.  The  young  men  of  New  Salem  and 
vicinity  formed  a  company  and  elected 
Lincoln  their  captain.^^  The  so-called 
"  campaign  "  against  the  Indians  lasted 
some  months  and  partook  largely  of  a 
man's  picnic.  There  was  fun,  "  sport," 
and  contests  of  strength  during  the  days 
and  much  jollity  and  story-telling  around 
the  camp  fires  at  night.  Lincoln  took  a 
prominent  part  in  all  that  went  on, — 
joining  in  with  the  utmost  heartiness, — 
and  gave  abundant  proof  of  his  liking 
men  and  his  pleasure  in  associating  with 
them.^^  Incidentally  he  also  showed  his 
humanity  by  saving  a  miserable,  unarmed 
Indian  from  being  slaughtered  in  cold 
blood  by  some  of  his  men.^*'  This  would 
not  be  a  very  noteworthy  illustration  of  a 
disposition  to  regard  all  men  as  brothers 
except    for    remembering    that,    broadly 

[25] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

speaking,  no  Indian  was  regarded  in  a 
friendly  way  as  a  man  and  a  brother ;  and 
that  killing  one  was  considered  both  a 
public  benefaction  and  a  legitimate  sport. 
Lincoln's  attitude  was  thus  exceptional 
and  showed  the  strength  of  his  disposi- 
tion, especially  as  his  interference  was  ex- 
tremely unpopular  and  could  not  be 
understood  by  his  men. 

On  his  return  he  ran  for  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Illinois  and  actually  polled  277 
votes  of  the  290  that  were  cast  and  de- 
clared in  the  election  precinct  of  New 
Salem.^^  He  never  could  have  obtained 
such  a  majority  of  the  votes  after  a  resi- 
dence among  the  voters  of  less  than  two 
years  unless  he  had  associated  wdth  all 
men  on  terms  of  equality  and  fraternity. 
Nothing  else  but  the  most  exceptional 
circumstances  could  have  produced  the 
same  result,  and  such  exceptional  circum- 
stances did  not  exist. 

From  this  time  until  he  was  forty  he 
was  extremely  active  in  politics.  He 
represented  his  district  for  eight  succes- 

[26] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

sive  years  in  the  Legislature  and  finally 
went  to  Congress.  Such  office  seeking 
and  holding,  especially  in  a  young  demo- 
cratic community,  involved  much  asso- 
ciation with  one's  fellow  men.  So  much 
so  that  a  man  who  did  not  thoroughly 
enjoy  association  with  his  fellow  men 
would  hardly  adopt  politics  as  a  career 
and  certainly  would  not  be  successful 
therein.  Votes  were  obtained  more  by 
personal  solicitation  and  consequential 
liking  than  by  party  affihation  and  sup- 
port. Rival  candidates  would  travel 
separately  or  together  over  their  district, 
meeting  the  voters  singly  or  in  crowds. 
They  would  talk  politics  with  any  man  they 
met  and  would  make  speeches  whenever 
they  could  get  an  audience.^^  In  all  this 
personal  and  intimate  campaigning  Lin- 
coln manifested  great  enjoyment.  His 
genial  good  fellowship  and  pleasant  dem- 
ocratic ways  were  constantly  displayed. 
He  assumed  no  airs  of  superiority  and 
was  ever  a  simple,  humorous  and  friendly 
brother-man. 

[27] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

After  living  about  six  years  in  IN'ew 
Salem  and  when  he  was  twenty-eight 
years  old  he  moved  to  Springfield  where 
he  settled  permanently.  His  life  there 
shows  that  he  enjoyed  all  association  with 
his  fellow  townspeople  and  manifested 
therein  geniality,  good  fellowship  and 
sociability.  Until  he  was  married  he 
lived  over  the  store  of  his  friend  Speed 
and  was  one  of  a  number  of  young  men 
who  made  the  store  ^^  their  club.  With 
them,  he  formed  a  society  for  the  en- 
couragement of  debate  and  other  literary 
efforts.^*  They  also  founded  the  "  Young 
Men's  Lyceum,"  a  more  ambitious  so- 
ciety. It  "contained  and  commanded," 
says  Herndon,^'^  "  all  the  culture  and 
talent  of  the  place."  Lincoln  was  also 
"  admitted  to  the  best  society  "  and  "  was 
recognized  as  a  valuable  social  factor."  ** 
Just  as  at  Gentryville  he  liked  to  go  to 
all  parties.  "  His  name  appears  in  every 
list  of  banqueters  and  merrymakers  re- 
ported in  the  Springfield  papers.  He 
even  served  on  committees  for  cotillon 

[28] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

parties."  ^®  A  lady,  who  had  known  Lin- 
coln in  these  Springfield  days,  told  Miss 
Tarbell  that  "  he  was  always  a  welcome 
guest  everj^where,  and  the  centre  of  a 
circle  of  animated  talkers.  Indeed,  I 
think  the  only  thing  we  girls  had  against 
Lincoln  was  that  he  always  attracted  all 
the  men  around  him."  " 

"  He  was  a  man,"  says  his  close  friend, 
Governor  Washburne,  "  of  the  most  so- 
cial disposition  and  was  never  so  happy  as 
when  surrounded  by  congenial  friends. "^^ 
And  accordingly  he  spent  much  time  in 
social  intercourse  with  men.  Judge 
Gillespie,  who  knew  him  intimately, 
states  that  "as  a  boon  companion, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  though  he  never  drank  a 
drop  of  liquor  or  used  tobacco  in  any 
form  in  his  life,  was  without  a  rival."  ^^ 

He  was  thirty-nine  years  old  when,  in 
1848,  he  was  in  Wasliington  as  member 
of  Congress.  While  there  he  was  no 
more  a  recluse  than  he  had  been  in 
Gentryville,  New  Salem  or  Springfield. 
His  "  simple,  sincere  friendliness  and  his 

[29] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

quaint  humor  soon  won  him  a  sure,  if 
quiet,  social  position  in  Washington.  He 
was  frequently  invited  to  Mr.  Webster's 
Saturday  breakfasts,"  ^^  where  his  stories 
were  highly  relished  for  their  originality 
and  drollery.  "  Socially  he  always  kept 
his  company  in  a  roar  of  laughter,"  says 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  who  at  this 
time  knew  him  "  well  and  intimately."  *^ 
His  name  often  appears  in  the 
"  National  Intelligencer  "  on  committees 
to  offer  a  public  dinner  to  this  or  that 
great  man,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1849  he 
was  one  of  the  managers  of  the  Inaugural 
Ball  given  to  President  Taylor.^^  He 
was  a  very  popular  member  of  a  small 
club  of  good  fellows  and  very  genial 
talkers,  who  met  almost  daily  to  pass  a 
mirthful  hour  or  so  in  lively  discussion  of 
the  news  of  the  day  and  in  telling  humor- 
ous stories,  in  both  of  which  social  amuse- 
ments Lincoln  always  participated  with 
the  greatest  zest  and  pleasure.  Mr.  Ben 
Perly  Poore,  a  well  known  newspaper 
correspondent,    relates    how    this    came 

[30] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

about  and  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  Lin- 
coln. He  says:  "During  the  Christmas 
holidays  Mr.  Lincoln  found  his  way  into 
the  small  room  used  as  the  post  office  of 
the  House,  where  a  few  jovial  raconteurs 
used  to  meet  almost  every  morning,  after 
the  mail  had  been  distributed  into  the 
members'  boxes,  to  exchange  such  new 
stories  as  any  of  them  might  have  ac- 
quired since  they  had  last  met.  After 
modestly  standing  at  the  door  for  several 
days,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  '  reminded '  of  a 
story,  and  by  New  Year's  he  was  recog- 
nized as  the  champion  story-teller  of  the 
Capitol,  His  favorite  seat  was  at  the  left 
of  the  open  fireplace,  tilted  back  in  his 
chair,  with  his  long  legs  reaching  over  to 
the  chimney  jamb.  He  never  told  a  story 
twice,  but  appeared  to  have  an  endless 
repertoire  of  them  always  ready,  like 
the  successive  charges  in  a  magazine  gun, 
and  always  pertinently  adapted  to  some 
passing  event."  '^^  Another  social  amuse- 
ment was  bowling,  in  games  of  which, 
with  some  of  his  friends  and  acquaint- 

[31] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ances,  he  frequently  took  part.  He 
greatly  enjoyed  the  game,  the  crowd,  the 
prevailing  spirit  of  jollity  and  the  atmos- 
phere of  good  feeling  and  fellowship.  A 
capital  description  of  him  as  he  appeared 
on  the  alleys  exists,  written  by  a  Dr. 
Busey,  who  boarded  at  the  same  board- 
ing house  with  him  and  thus  saw  him 
daily.  In  his  "  Personal  Reminiscences  " 
Dr.  Busey  wrote,*^  "  I  soon  learned  to 
know  and  admire  Lincoln  for  his  simple 
and  unostentatious  manners,  kindheart- 
edness  and  amusing  jokes,  anecdotes  and 
witticisms.  .  .  .  He  was  very  fond  of 
bowling  and  would  frequently  join  others 
of  the  mess  or  meet  other  members  of 
Congress  in  a  match  game  at  the  alley  of 
James  Casparis,  which  was  near  the 
boarding  house.  He  was  a  very  awk- 
ward bowler,  but  played  the  game  with 
great  zest  and  spirit,  solely  for  exercise 
and  amusement,  and  added  greatly  to 
the  enjoyment  and  entertainment  of  the 
other  players  and  bystanders  by  his 
criticisms   and   funny  illustrations.     He 

[32] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

accepted  success  and  defeat  with  like 
good  nature  and  humor,  and  left  the  alley 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  game  without  a 
sorrow  or  disappointment.  When  it  was 
known  that  he  was  in  the  alley,  there; 
would  assemble  numbers  of  people  to 
witness  the  fun  which  was  anticipated  by 
those  who  knew  of  his  fund  of  anecdotes 
and  jokes.  When  in  the  alley,  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  eager  listeners, 
he  indulged  with  great  freedom  in  the 
sport  of  narrative,  some  of  which  were 
very  broad."  "  Sikerly  he  was  of  great 
disport  "  and  "  well  in  fellowship  could 
laugh  and  talk." 

In  reference  to  Lincoln's  proclivity 
for  telling  stories  it  should  be  noted 
that  giving  pleasure  to  others  is  often 
a  manifestation  of  liking  and  that  story- 
telling is  one  of  the  most  ancient,  sim- 
ple and  direct  ways  of  entertaining  and 
thus  giving  pleasure  to  another  per- 
son. It  is  consequently  habitually  done 
by  most  men  who  like  their  fellow  men. 
It  is  a  peculiarly  appropriate  and  char- 

[33] 


ABRAHAM  LINXOLN 

acteristic  mode  of  expression  for  such 
men  to  use.  And  from  the  time  he  was  a 
boy  to  the  very  day  of  his  death  Lincoln 
was  a  great  teller  of  humorous  and  amus- 
ing stories.*^  Some  he  no  doubt  told  to 
give  point  to  a  statement,  and  some  per- 
haps in  his  later  life  to  get  relief  and 
relaxation,  but  the  great  mass  of  them, 
probably  more  than  ninety  out  of  a  hun- 
dred, were  told  just  because  he  liked  the 
listener.  He  was  in  a  crowd,  or  he  met 
a  man, — friend,  acquaintance,  or  stranger 
made  little  difference, — he  felt  friendly, 
kindly,  sociable,  and  so  he  told  a  story. 
We  lose  the  real  significance  of  these 
stories  if  we  regard  their  telling  as  an  in- 
tentionally acquired  custom  or  calculated 
practice.  Their  true  and  deep  signifi- 
cance lies  in  being  a  way  in  which  Lin- 
coln expressed  his  liking  for  men. 

There  have  been  three  criticisms  made 
of  these  stories, — that  Lincoln  told  too 
many, — that  he  occasionally  told  stories 
of  a  broad  and  jocose  flavor,  too  coarse 
for  some  ears, — and  lastly,  that  in  the 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

dramatic  narration  of  a  story  he  showed 

ft-'' 

want  of  resj^ect  for  the  dignity  of  his 
office  when  President.  In  small  measure 
these  criticisms  are  true,  but  they  are  of 
slight  importance  if  we  consider  Lin- 
coln's stories  as  merely  a  manifestation 
of  his  disposition  to  like  men.  In  this 
aspect  they  redound  to  his  credit.  ]More- 
over,  taking  these  criticisms  at  their  high- 
est value,  it  is  surely  of  trifling  conse- 
quence that  he  erred  sometimes  in  what 
were  in  his  case  only  matters  of  taste. 
We  can  w^aive  those,  we  could  put  up 
with  far  greater  errors  of  taste,  if  Lin- 
coln gains  as  he  deseryes  to  gain  the 
reputation  to  which  he  is  entitled  of  lik- 
ing his  fellow  men,  of  ever  being  pleasant 
and  genial  with  them,  of  telling  no  story 
except  to  please.  There  is  no  story  of 
his  that  has  not  a  hearty  laugh  in  it,  or 
that  was  ever  told  with  any  object  except 
to  give  healthy  amusement  or  occasionally 
to  point  an  argument.  Story-telling  such 
as  his  was  is  liigh  proof  by  itself  of  liis 
companionable  and  social  nature. 

[35] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

On  his  return  to  Springfield  from 
Washington  liis  disposition  to  Hke  peo- 
ple suffered  no  change  or  abatement. 
Xothing  was  more  illustrative  of  this 
than  liis  customary  demeanor  as  he 
walked  about  the  streets.  ^liss  Tarbell 
gives  an  excellent  description  of  it,  say- 
ing **  that  "  Lincoln's  kindly  interest  and 
perfect  democratic  feeling  attached  him 
to  many  people  whom  he  never  met  save 
on  the  streets.  Indeed  his  life  in  the 
streets  of  Springfield  is  a  most  touch- 
ing and  delightful  study.  He  concerned 
himself  in  the  progress  of  every  building 
which  was  put  up,  of  every  new  street 
which  was  opened;  he  passed  nobody 
without  recognition;  he  seemed  always 
to  have  time  to  stop  and  talk."  "  Fre- 
quently in  going  along  the  street  and 
meeting  some  friend  he  would  start  in 
with  '  By  the  way,  I  am  just  reminded 
of  a  story,'  *^  and  he  would  stop  in  the 
street  and  tell  the  yarn.  There  was  no 
postponement  on  account  of  the  weath- 
er." *®     Thus   he   did  not  need   a  lively 

[36] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

crowd  to  stimulate  and  arouse  his  disposi- 
tion to  genial  and  mirthful  manifesta- 
tions, and  so  great  was  its  strength  that 
meetings  which  would  have  passed  off 
with  most  people  in  empty  conventional 
expressions  were  turned  by  him  into  so- 
cial occurrences  which  he  enjoyed  and  in 
wliich  he  gave  pleasure.  The  same  thing 
happened  when  people  came  to  see  liim  in 
his  office.  Mr.  Herndon  states  that :  *^ 
"  'No  matter  how  deeply  interested  in  liis 
work,  if  anv  one  came  in  he  had  some- 
thing  humorous  and  pleasant  to  say,  and 
usually  wound  up  by  telling  a  joke  or 
an  anecdote.  I  have  heard  him  relate 
the  same  story  three  times  within  as  many 
hours  to  persons  who  came  in  at  differ- 
ent periods,  and  every  time  he  laughed 
as  heartily  and  enjoyed  it  as  if  it  were  a 
new  story."  This  great  pleasantness  of 
demeanor  is  testified  to  by  many  people. 
His  partner,  who  would  know  it  if  any- 
body did,  says  ^*  that:  "He  was  always 
easy  of  approach  and  thoroughly  demo- 
cratic.    He   seemed   to   throw   a   charm 

[37] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

around  every  man  who  ever  met  him.  To 
be  in  his  presence  was  a  pleasure  and  no 
man  left  his  company  with  injured  feel- 
ings unless  most  richly  deserved."  And 
Judge  David  Davis,  who  observed  him 
intimately  for  many  years,  summed  the 
matter  up  when  he  said  that  "  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's presence  on  the  circuit  was  watched 
for  with  interest,  and  never  failed  to 
produce  joy  or  hilarity.  When  casually 
absent,  the  spirits  of  both  bar  and  people 
were  depressed."  ^® 

Next  to  his  demeanor,  the  way  he  spent 
his  leisure  time  is  most  indicative  of  his 
disposition.  For  every  man  spends  his 
leisure  as  he  likes  best,  and  Lincoln  habit- 
ually spent  his  in  social  companionship 
with  men.  His  friend,  Mr.  Whitney, 
writes  ^^  that  "  Mr.  Lincoln  shone  re- 
splendently  in  association  in  a  social 
sense  with  men.  .  .  .  He  had  a  habit  of 
being  '  out  with  the  boys,'  and  might  be 
found  frequently  at  Burnes's  grocery  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  public  square 
in    Springfield   entertaining   the    crowd, 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

such  being  the  custom  of  the  place  at  this 
time,  and  Burnes's  was  a  general  loafing 
place  for  all  the  local  wits  of  the  place." 

His  liking  for  men  was  so  broad,  he 
enjoyed  so  much  being  with  a  genial 
crowd  that  he  was  not  at  all  particular 
what  sort  of  men  composed  it, — all  were 
brothers.  He  belonged  to  the  inner  cir- 
cle of  the  lawyers  of  the  Menard  County 
Bar;  with  them  he  had  the  happiest 
times  of  his  life,  among  them  were  his 
closest  personal  friends,  they  were  his 
intellectual  companions,  and  to  be  in- 
different to  or  dislike  persons  outside  of 
any  set  to  which  one  belongs  is  the  com- 
mon attribute  of  man,  yet,  one  of  these 
friends  says  °^  that  he  "  would  regale  a 
miscellaneous  crowd  of  farmers,  stable 
boys  and  general  roustabouts  in  the  com- 
mon waiting-room  of  a  country  inn  with 
as  much  apparent  zest  as  our  coterie,  em- 
bracing the  elite  of  the  bench  and  bar." 

When  temporarily  away  from  Spring- 
field he  loved  to  surround  himself  with  a 
crowd  at  the  store  or  the  tavern,  and 

[39] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

there,  never  drinking,  forever  telling 
stories,  while  the  time  away  in  laughter, 
jollity  and  good  fellowship.  Mr.  Hern- 
don  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  him 
under  these  circumstances.  He  writes: 
"  In  the  role  of  a  story-teller  I  am  prone 
to  regard  Mr.  Lincoln  as  without  an 
equal.  I  have  seen  him  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  numbering  as  many  as  two  and  in 
some  cases  three  hundred  persons,  all 
deeply  interested  in  the  outcome  of  a 
story."  ..."  While  on  the  circuit  in 
Menard  County,  Lincoln  met  with  Wil- 
liam Engle  and  James  Murray,  two  men 
who  were  noted  also  for  their  story-telling 
proclivities.  .  .  .  When  Lincoln,  Murray 
and  Engle  met,  there  was  sure  to  be  a 
crowd.  All  were  more  or  less  masters  in 
their  art.  I  have  seen  the  little  country 
tavern  where  these  three  men  were  wont 
to  meet  after  an  adjournment  of  court, 
crowded  almost  to  suffocation  with  an 
audience  of  men  who  had  gathered  to  wit- 
ness the  contest  among  the  members  of 
the  strange  triumvirate.     The  physician 

[40] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

of  the  town,  all  the  lawyers,  and  not  un- 
frequently  a  preacher,  could  be  found  in 
the  crowd  that  filled  the  doors  and  win- 
dows. .  .  .  Every  recital  was  followed 
by  its  *  storm  of  laughter  and  chorus  of 
cheers  '  .  .  .  I  have  known  these  story- 
telling jousts  to  continue  long  after  mid- 
night— in  some  cases  till  the  very  small 
hours  of  the  morning."  ^^ 

A  charming  and  wholly  different  pic- 
ture of  his  love  of  associating  with  men  is 
given  by  a  Mr.  Walker  in  the  Lincoln 
Memorial  Album.     He  says :  ^^ 

"  My  personal  recollection  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, and  what  I  have  seen  of  him,  in  and 
about  Springfield,  dated  from  about  the 
year  1842,  and  was  almost  continuous 
until  he  left  for  Wasliington,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1861;  ...  I  w^ell  remember  his  com- 
ing in  the  office  of  Colonel  Baker,  where 
I  studied  and  read  law,  almost  every 
afternoon;  and  with  his  cheerful  face  and 
hearty  greeting  to  myself  and  other 
students,  '  How  are  you  this  afternoon, 
boys,'  seat  himself,  and  take  up  some  text 

[41] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Hook  that  some  of  us  were  reading,  and 
give  us  a  close  and  rigid  examination/* 
laughing  heartily  at  our  answers,  at 
times;  and  always  made  the  hour  he 
spent  with  us  interesting  and  instructive; 
occasionally  relating,  to  the  great  amuse- 
ment of  all  present,  an  anecdote;  and, 
after  the  hour  so  spent,  he  would  go  out 
to  a  backyard  used  by  the  students  and 
join  them  in  a  game  of  ball,  with  as 
much  zest  as  any  of  us."  ^^ 

Obviously  a  man  who  has  the  disposi- 
tion to  like  men  generally  will  greatly  en- 
joy clubs.  They  offer  him  an  ideal  exist- 
ence— just  what  his  nature  demands. 
This  further  proof  of  having  this  sort  of  a 
disposition  Lincoln  furnished  in  the  full- 
est measure.  Between  1836,  when  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  until  1860, 
when  he  was  elected  President,  Lincoln 
practiced  Law  as  a  profession  and  means 
of  livelihood.  During  these  years  the 
courts  in  Illinois  were  peripatetic  and 
were  held  in  one  town  after  another  on  a 
regular  circuit.    The  lawyers  followed  the 

[42] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

courts  about  and  thus  "  went  on  circuit," 
as  it  is  called.  When  lawyers  do  so  they 
form  an  itinerant  club.  In  Illinois  the 
life  among  lawyers  on  circuit  was  much 
the  same  as  it  is  the  world  over,  except 
that  the  circumstances  were  very  primi- 
tive and  involved  extreme  intimacy. 
Travelling  together  in  three  seated  spring 
wagons,  in  buggies  and  on  horseback, 
the  judge  and  lawyers  went  from  town  to 
town.  They  put  up  in  country  taverns  in 
which  there  was  little  or  no  privacy  or 
possibility  of  exclusiveness.  "  Ordinarily 
they  slept  two  in  a  bed,  with  three  or  four 
beds  in  a  room.  They  ate  at  a  common 
table  with  jurors,  witnesses,  prisoners  out 
on  bail,  travelling  peddlers,  teamsters  and 
laborers."  ^®  In  the  hours  not  occupied 
in  Court  Sessions  or  in  pilgrimaging  to- 
gether from  town  to  town  they  would 
mingle  with  the  townspeople  and  while 
away  the  time,  gossiping,  discussing  poli- 
tics or  telling  stories.  There  was  no 
getting  away  from  one  another  except 
by  going  alone  into  the  woods. 

[43] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

For  a   great   part   of  eighteen  years, 
the    whole    of    his    middle    life,    Lincoln 
travelled  the  circuit  and  led  this  life.    In 
every   year   of   those   eighteen   years   he 
was  gone  for  several  months  away  from 
home,    sometimes   even   as   much   as   six 
months     continuously,    and    the    circuit 
which  he  travelled  was  as  large  as  the 
State  of  Massachusetts."      This  was  far 
more  time  than  any  other  lawyer  spent 
on   circuit    and   in   Lincoln's    case   there 
seems  to  have  been  absolutely  no  reason 
for  it  except  that  he  liked  it.    Mr.  Hill, 
who  has  given  these  years  of  his  life  par- 
ticular study,   says  that  the   periods  he 
spent  on  circuit  were  the  happiest  times 
of  his  life.^^     They  could  not  have  been, 
nor  could  he  have  enjoyed  this  life,  unless 
he  had  loved  the  closest  intimacy  with  his 
fellows,   for  that  was  the  web  and  the 
woof  of  it.    As  soon  expect  a  recluse  to 
be  happy  if  he  had  to  spend  his   days 
and  nights  at  a  popular  club  as  for  one 
not  liking  his  fellow  men  to  enjoy  life 
on  the  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit  of  Illinois. 

[44] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

While  "  travelling  the  circuit  "  for  all 
these  years  Lincoln  displayed  the  quali- 
ties natural  to  his  disposition  and  by 
doing  so  showed  he  enjoyed  the  life.  He 
was  a  joyous,  friendly  companion — 
humorous,  genial  and  a  large  contributor 
of  mirth  and  jollity.  To  describe  him 
as  he  appeared  to  his  contemporaries 
at  this  time,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to 
quote  what  one  of  them  has  written.^^ 
His  words  are:  "At  this  time  the  terms 
of  court  were  held  quarterly  and  usually 
lasted  about  two  weeks.  The  terms  were 
always  seasons  of  great  importance  and 
much  gaiety  in  the  little  town  that  had 
the  honor  of  being  the  county  seat.  Dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  bar  from  sur- 
rounding and  even  from  distant  counties, 
ex- judges  and  ex-members  of  Congress 
attended,  and  were  personally,  and  many 
of  them  popularly,  known  to  almost  every 
adult,  male  and  female,  of  the  limited 
population.  They  came  in  by  stages  and 
on  horseback.  Among  them,  the  one 
above  all  whose  arrival  was  looked  for- 

[45] 


ABRAHAM  LINXOLN 

ward  to  with  the  most  pleasurable  antici- 
pations, and  whose  possible  absence — al- 
though he  never  was  absent — was  feared 
with  the  liveliest  emotions  of  anxiety,  was 
*  Uncle  Abe,'  as  we  all  lovingly  called 
him.  Sometimes  he  was  a  day  or  two 
late,  and  then,  as  the  Bloomington  stage 
came  in  at  sundown,  the  bench  and  bar, 
jurors  and  citizens,  would  gather  in 
crowds  at  the  hotel  where  he  always  put 
up,  to  give  him  a  welcome  if  he  should 
happily  arrive,  and  to  experience  the 
keenest  disappointment  if  he  should  not. 
If  he  arrived,  as  he  alighted  and  stretched 
out  both  his  long  arms  to  shake  hands 
with  those  nearest  to  him  and  with  those 
who  approached,  his  homely  face,  hand- 
some in  its  broad  and  sunny  smile,  his 
voice  touching  in  its  kindly  and  cheerful 
accents,  every  one  in  his  presence  felt 
lighter  and  joyous  in  heart.  He  brought 
happiness  with  him.  He  loved  his  fellow 
men  with  all  the  strength  of  his  great 
nature." '' 

And   this   genial,   loving   brother-man 
was  elected  to  the  Presidency. 

[46] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

That  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  most 
dehghtful  companions  ^^  that  could  be  im- 
agined and  that  he  was  a  good  fellow  in 
the  highest  sense  of  that  word  was  known 
to  his  friends  in  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
The  dignity  of  office  and  the  cares  of 
state  might  be  expected  at  least  to  mod- 
ify these  characteristics.  "  Office  changes 
manners."  ^^  But  Lincoln's  disposition 
was  too  strong  for  that.  As  he  had 
been,  he  remained.  A  very  keen  observer 
and  a  veiy  intelligent  man,  General  Sher- 
man, described  him  as  he  appeared  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  war  in  these  strik- 
ing and  impressive  words :  ^^ 

"  When  at  rest  or  listening,  his  legs 
and  arms  seemed  to  hang  almost  lifeless, 
and  his  face  was  careworn  and  haggard; 
but  the  moment  he  began  to  talk  his  face 
lightened  up,  his  tall  form,  as  it  were, 
unfolded,  and  he  was  the  very  impersona* 
tion  of  good  humor  and  fellowship/^ 

Lincoln's  opportunities  while  President 
for  joining  in  a  mirthful  crowd  and  hav- 
ing a  good  time  were  of  course  very  lim- 

[47] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ited.  But  whenever  this  could  happen 
he  took  advantage  of  it  and  enjoyed  him- 
self greatly,  always  contributing  to  the 
pleasure  of  those,  whether  young  or  old, 
and  of  whatever  sort  or  condition,  with 
whom  he  was.  A  picture  of  this,  charm- 
ing and  touching  in  its  simplicity,  is 
given  by  Mr.  Blair,  who  says  that:®* 

"  During  the  War  my  grandfather, 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  lived  at  Silver 
Springs,  north  of  Washington,  seven 
miles  from  the  White  House.  It  was  a 
magnificent  place  of  four  or  five  hun- 
dred acres,  with  an  extensive  lawn  in 
the  rear  of  the  house.  The  grandchildren 
gathered  there  frequently.  There  were 
eight  or  ten  of  us,  our  ages  ranging  from 
eight  to  twelve  years.  Although  I  was 
but  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's visits  were  of  such  importance  to 
us  boys  as  to  leave  a  clear  impression  on 
my  memory.  He  drove  out  to  the  place 
quite  frequently.  We  boys,  for  hours 
at  a  time,  played  *  town  ball '  on  the 
vast  lawn  and  ]Mr.  Lincoln  would  join 

[48] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

ardently  in  the  sport.  I  remember 
vividly  how  he  ran  with  the  children, 
how  long  were  his  strides,  and  how  far 
his  coat  tails  stuck  out  behind,  and  how 
we  tried  to  hit  him  with  the  ball  as  he 
ran  the  bases.^^  He  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  the  play  as  completely  as  any 
of  us,  and  we  invariably  hailed  his  com- 
ing with  delight." 

Another  occasion  when  he  had  a  pleas- 
ant, companionable  time  with  a  number 
of  men  is  described  by  General  Viele, 
who  says  i^*^  "  From  that  time  until  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death  I  enjoyed  the  closest 
intimacy  with  him.  On  one  occasion  he 
invited  me  to  accompany  liim,  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  a  revenue  cutter  from 
Washington  to  Fortress  Monroe.  There 
was  a  small  cabin  in  the  boat  divided  by 
four  partitions.  During  the  period  of 
eight  or  ten  days  we  were  together  we 
never  lost  sight  of  each  other.  During 
the  trip  we  were  constantly  engaged  in 
conversation   and   discussion   about   war 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

matters,  much  of  the  time  being  occupied 
in  listening  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  wonderful 
fund  of  reminiscence  and  anecdote.  If 
I  had  been  a  stenographer  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  could  have  filled  a  large  volume 
made  up  of  these  remarkable  stories.  Of 
course  I  could  not  remember  all  of  them. 
I  remember  many  of  them.  Some  of 
them  it  would  be  hardly  right  to  print." 

Although  companionship  with  a  num- 
ber of  his  fellow  mortals  was  very  rare 
during  the  years  he  was  President  yet 
Lincoln  saw  and  met  during  that  time 
more  people  than  did  any  other  man  in 
the  Country — most  of  whom  he  saw  on 
one  occasion  only.  This  fact  as  well  as 
the  dignity  and  etiquette  of  office  would 
tend  to  prevent  even  a  strong  disposition 
to  like  men  from  showing  much  liking. 
But  Lincoln's  disposition  was  so  strong 
that  throughout  his  Presidency  he  al- 
most invariably  made  meetings  with 
friends  or  strangers  the  occasion  for 
some  genial  manifestation  of  liking  and 
good    fellowship — often    by    telling    a 

[50] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

laugh-provoking  story.  Countless  illus- 
trations of  this — to  be  differentiated  from 
the  occasions  when  he  told  a  story  to 
point  a  moral  or  an  argument — could 
be  given.  One  which  capitally  shows  his 
simple  geniality  and  good  fellowship  is 
the  following: 

An  employe  in  the  Military  Telegraph 
Office  in  the  War  Department  says " 
that  "  Lincoln  often  visited  the  office  and 
was  always  affable  and  courteous,  some- 
times even  familiar,  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  attaches.  .  .  .  The  last  time  I 
saw  him  was  on  the  afternoon  of  April 
11th,  three  days  prior  to  his  assassination. 
He  came  to  the  office  as  usual  that  after- 
noon, and  something  reminded  him  of  a 
story,  and  to  illustrate  the  finale  he  gath- 
ered his  coat-tails  under  his  arms  and, 
with  about  three  long  strides,  crossed  the 
room  and  passed  out  of  the  door  with  the 
last  words  of  the  story  echoing  from  his 
lips." 

A  few  days  passed,  and  then  in  the 
afternoon    before    his    death    some    old 

[51] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

friends  came  in  to  see  him  and,  for 
amusement's  sake,  he  read  aloud  to  them 
parts  of  a  humorous  book.  When  he  had 
finished,  he  expressed  a  wish  that  he  could 
spend  the  evening  with  them  talking  of 
old  times,  laughing  over  old  reminis- 
cences and  in  genial  companionship,  but 
he  said  that  he  had  to  go  to  the  theatre.^^ 

Thus  we  come  to  the  end  of  Lincoln's 
life.  I  have  shown  by  the  testimony  of 
many  witnesses  covering  all  his  years  that 
from  the  time  he  was  a  little  boy  he  spent 
a  great  many  hours  in  intimate  associa- 
tion with  men,  which  he  enjoyed  in- 
stinctively, with  all  his  heart,  without  a 
thought  for  the  morrow.*'^  We  cannot 
dwell  too  much  on  this  trait  and  learn  to 
read  its  striking  significance — that  Lin- 
coln was  a  true  brother-man  who  liked 
men  most  heartily  and  catholically. 

But  while  enjoyment  in  associating 
with  men  is  the  earmark  of  a  disposition 
to  like  men  generally,  and  must  conse- 
quently be  found  before  such  a  disposi- 
tion can  be  attributed  to  a  man,  yet  once 

[52] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

clearly  found,  as  in  Lincoln's  case,  our 
conception  of  his  disposition  can  be 
greatly  enhanced  and  deepened  by  con- 
sidering other  manifestations  of  his  lik- 
ing, for  liking  can  be  shown  in  many 
ways;  and  with  a  dis]3osition  to  like  men 
so  strong  as  Lincoln's  was  there  is  a  great 
choice  of  such  other  manifestations  to 
consider. 

Of  all  the  ways,  however,  in  which  a 
disposition  to  like  men  manifests  itself, 
the  most  characteristic,  apart  from  lik- 
ing to  associate  with  men,  is  a  general 
kindliness  of  thought  and  feeling  and  act 
and  word  shown  in  all  meetings,  whether 
casual  or  set,  whether  for  one  purpose  or 
another,  whether  social  or  formal,  gay  or 
serious.  It  is  particularly  characteristic 
because  it  is  emotional,  is  not  caused  by 
anything  except  liking  and  cannot  be 
affected.  It  should  also  be  noted  that 
while  general  kindliness  excludes  in  terms 
and  in  fact  many  qualities  which  indicate 
dislike  and  the  non-possession  of  a  dis- 
position to  like  men  generally,  to  wit, 

153] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

hardness  of  heart,  lack  of  consideration 
for  others,  predatoriness,  envy,  malice  and 
meanness  of  all  kinds,  it  includes  many 
manifestations  of  liking  which  are  often 
taken  by  themselves  and  described  under 
other  names,  as,  for  instance,  pleasant- 
ness, kind-heartedness,  beneficence,  hu- 
manity and  many  more,  all  wliich  terms 
are  of  constant  use  by  biographers  of 
Lincoln/*^ 

It  was  with  Lincoln  as  we  should  ex- 
pect from  one  who  liked  his  brother-men 
so  well.  Throughout  his  life  he  showed 
a  general  kindliness  of  speech  and  man- 
ner, of  thought  and  feeling  and  action 
towards  men,  women  ^^  and  children,^^ 
which  was  of  great  strength  and  beauty 
in  his  early  as  well  as  his  later  days. 
After  his  death,  Mr.  Herndon,  his  friend, 
partner  for  many  years  and  biographer, 
travelled  about  in  Indiana  and  Illinois 
interviewing  people  who  had  known  Lin- 
coln as  he  grew  up  from  boyhood  into 
youth  and  manhood.  ^^  He  collected  a 
great  store  of  reminiscences  and  anec- 

[54] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

dotes.  Many  of  these  show  acts  of  kind- 
ness on  Lincoln's  part  very  unusual  in  a 
boy  or  youth.  They  fully  substantiate 
Mr.  Whitney's  statement  '*  that  "  one  of 
Lincoln's  youthful  characteristics,  and 
one  which  adhered  to  him  through  life, 
was  his  uniform  kindness  to  any  and  all 
living  things."  And  while  very  many  acts 
of  kindness  are  recorded  in  Mr.  Hern- 
don's  collection  of  anecdotes,  the  particu- 
larly noteworthy  thing  in  these  narratives 
is  that  Lincoln  had  impressed  liis  friends 
and  neighbors  as  being  "  kind,"  and  that 
they  did  so  remember  him.^^  To  have 
gained  such  a  memory  he  must  have  done 
far  more  kind  things  than  are  recorded, 
many  as  these  are.  He  must  have  been 
generally  and  usually  kindly.  That  this 
conclusion  is  correct  is  assured  by  the 
2^hrase  one  constantly  comes  across  in  read- 
ing these  reminiscences  of  Lincoln's  early 
days, — he  is  described  as  being  "  oblig- 
ing."'^ And  a  name  for  being  "oblig- 
ing" in  country  parlance  is  gained  and 
can  only  be  gained  by  willingly  doing 

[  55  ] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

things  for  others  that  they  want  done 
(wliich  is  a  high  variety  of  kindliness) 
and  by  doing  them  habitually.  That 
Lincoln  thus  acquired  the  name  is  hap- 
pily confirmed  by  the  phrase  which  one 
of  his  neighbors  used  about  him, — "  He 
was  always  ready  to  do  everything  for 
everybody."  ^^ 

So  Caleb  Carman,  who  lived  in  New 
Salem  and  with  whom  Lincoln  boarded 
when  postmaster,  found  liim.'^  He  says: 
"  Lincoln  was  liked  by  every  person  who 
knew  him.  While  he  boarded  with  me  he 
made  himself  useful  in  ever}"  way  that  he 
could.  If  the  water  bucket  was  empty  he 
filled  it ;  if  wood  w^as  needed  he  chopped  it ; 
and  w^as  always  cheerful  and  in  good  hu- 
mor. He  started  out  one  morning  w^ith  the 
axe  over  his  shoulder,  and  I  asked  him 
what  he  was  going  to  do.  His  answer  was : 
'  I  am  going  to  try  a  project.'  When  he 
returned  he  had  two  hickory  poles  on  his 
shoulders,  and  in  a  very  short  time  two 
of  my  chairs  had  new  bottoms." 

This  account  is  thoroughly  typical.    It 

[56] 


A  LOVER  OP  MANKIND 

may  be  supplemented  by  another  as 
typical  anecdote;  which  is,  that  when 
more  guests  came  to  the  Tavern  than 
could  be  accommodated  Lincoln,  who  was 
regularly  living  there,  cheerfully  gave 
up  his  bed  to  oblige  the  tavern-keeper 
and  went  over  to  the  store,  where  he  slept 
on  the  hard  counter.'^  If  this  story  stood 
alone  it  would  amount  to  nothing,  but  as 
one  of  a  hundred  similar  others  it  indi- 
cates a  great  deal  respecting  Lincoln's 
disposition  and  becomes  profoundly  sig- 
nificant. 

It  w^as  the  same  later  on  in  Springfield. 
Mr.  Littlefield,  a  clerk  in  his  office  there, 
says  that  "  Lincoln  always  manifested 
interest  in  everybody  with  whom  he  asso- 
ciated. When  you  first  met  him  and 
studied  him  he  impressed  you  with  being 
...  a  very  kind  man.  He  struck  you 
as  a  man  who  would  go  out  of  his  way  to 
serve  you.  ...  I  never  in  all  my  hfe 
associated  with  a  man  who  seemed  so 
ready  to  serve  another."  ^^ 

Yet,  to  be  quite  candid,  he  very  occa- 

[57] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sionally  did  do  things  which  were  un- 
kind. If  he  had  not,  he  would  not  have 
been  human,  so  one  may  be  glad  it  was  so. 
Thus  when  a  boy  he  retaliated  for  in- 
juries done  him  by  The  Chronicles  of 
Reuben  and  other  lampoons,  and  later  on 
he  would  sometimes  in  political  speeches 
indulge  in  caustic  personalities  and  pretty 
brutal  ridicule.  In  these  cases  it  would 
seem  that  other  qualities  were  stronger 
and  had  for  the  time  being  the  upper 
hand  over  his  disposition.^^  But  as  he 
grew  older  his  disposition  kept  them 
down  and  became  the  great  controlling 
and  impelling  force  in  his  daily  life  so  far 
as  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men  were 
concerned.  ^^ 

This  was  marked  after  he  came  back 
from  Congress  and  travelled  the  Cir- 
cuit.^^  Here  interwoven  with  all  his 
humor  and  good  fellowship  ran  this  deep 
vein  of  kindliness.  It  was  particularly 
shown  in  his  relations  with  his  brother 
lawyers.  Against  them  he  was  constantly 
trying  cases  and  was  very  successful. 

[58] 


83 


A  LOVER  OF  MAKKIND 

Almost  invariably  the  jury  lawyer  is  an 
aggressive  person,  full  of  arrogance  in 
success,  in  defeat  rancorous.  But  Lin- 
coln's attitude  toward  his  brother  lawyers 
was  the  very  opposite  of  this.  It  is  most 
concisely  and  completely  described  in  the 
words  of  one  of  those  who  practiced  with 
him,  which  are — "  He  arrogated  to  him- 
self no  superiority  over  anj^one — not  even 
the  most  obscure  member  of  the  Bar.  He 
treated  everyone  with  the  simplicity  and 
kindness  that  friendly  neighbors  mani- 
fest in  their  relations  with  one  another."  ^* 

Simplicity,  kindness  and  friendliness, 
— these  are  qualities  that  the  brother-man 
ever  shows,  and  can  only  spring  from  a 
deep  feeling  of  liking  for  his  brother- 
men. 

A  liking  of  this  sort  should  win  a  great 
response.  It  is  true  Lincoln  commanded 
great  popularity  but  there  went  out  to 
him  also  something  deeper.  It  was  most 
simply  and  adequately  described  by 
Judge  Davis,  than  whom  nobody  was 
better  qualified  to  speak,  when  he  said, 

[59] 


85 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"  Lincoln  was  loved  by  his  brethren  of  the 
bar." 

And  from  these  men  who  loved  him, 
Lincoln  went  to  Washington  as  Presi- 
dent. The  dignity  of  office,  the  sense 
of  superiority,  the  engrossing  cares  of 
statesmanship,  not  to  speak  of  base  quali- 
ties, like  pride,  vanity  and  conceit,  bred 
by  station  and  cultivated  by  flattery,  gen- 
erally prevent  much  liking  and  kindliness 
being  shown  by  men  in  high  position. 
Moreover,  Lincoln  had  special  difficul- 
ties of  his  own.  He  was  without  any 
experience  as  an  administrator  or  ruler. 
Then  the  country  almost  immediately 
plunged  into  a  great  and  civil  war. 
Enormous  difficulties  are  imposed  by  a 
great  war  upon  the  government  of  any 
country  waging  it,  but  when  the  war  is 
a  civil  one  and  where  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment is  a  modern  republic  the  diffi- 
culties become  almost  insuperable.  There 
can  be  no  human  burden  greater  than 
that  of  the  President  of  such  a  govern- 
ment under  such  conditions.^^ 

[60] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

In  spite  of  all  these  checks  Lincoln's 
disposition  knew  no  change  or  abatement. 
As  I  have  said,  he  showed  throughout  the 
War,  whenever  he  had  the  opportunity, 
the  same  love  of  association  and  good  fel- 
lowship he  had  "  back  in  Indiana  and  Illi- 
nois." So  too  he  showed  the  same  kindli- 
ness by  which  he  had  won  the  love  of 
his  brother  lawyers."  "  His  real  kind- 
ness of  heart  is  always  coming  out  in  the 
most  striking  way  and  it  was  not  impaired 
by  the  Civil  War,"  wrote  Mr.  Goldwin 
Smith  in  an  essay  which  at  least  shows  no 
prepossessions  in  Lincoln's  favor.^^  In 
point  of  fact  not  only  was  it  not  impaired 
but  the  conditions  of  the  War  proved  it 
to  be  extraordinarily  great,  though  it  had 
been  great  in  Indiana  and  Illinois.  The 
field  there  was  relatively  small,  under 
the  conditions  of  the  War  it  was  immense. 
And  Lincoln's  disposition  was  large  and 
strong  enough  to  cover  the  field. 

Men  and  women,  politicians,  office- 
seekers,  friends  and  enemies  came  to  see 
him  to  ask  favors,  to  criticize  wisely  or 

[61] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

foolishly,  sometimes  to  find  fault;  many 
were  importunate,  many  were  trying, 
few  were  pleasant.  Yet  to  all  who  came, 
and  they  poured  in  on  him  eveiy  day,^^ 
all  day  long  and  even  at  night,  without 
ceasing,  for  over  four  long  years,  he 
showed  almost  unvarying  kindliness  in 
face,  in  manner,  in  word  and  act.®** 

This  habitual  demeanor  is  excellently 
described  by  William  H.  Crook,  who,  as 
bodyguard  of  Lincoln  in  1864,  had  ample 
opportunities  for  observation.  He  states  ®^ 
that  "  Men  came  in  a  never-ending 
stream  to  the  White  House.  The  greater 
part  of  the  callers  were  there  for  one 
occasion  only.  A  general  kindliness 
marked  the  President's  manner  toward  all 
who  came  to  see  him.  Once  I  preferred 
a  request  on  my  own  behalf  to  him. 
He  listened  to  my  story  as  patiently  as 
if  he  had  not  heard  hundreds  like  it. 
I  like  to  remember  how  kindly  he  looked 
at  me.  As  I  have  said,  his  constant 
attitude  was  one  of  kindly  considera- 
tion." 

[62] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

This  is  confirmed  in  a  very  striking 
way.  There  is  a  book  ®^  which  contains 
forty-five  narratives  by  various  people 
of  their  meetings  with  Lincoln.  In  fifteen 
of  them  the  word  "  kind  "  or  "  kindness  " 
or  "  kindly  "  is  used  in  speaking  of  Lin- 
coln's demeanor.  In  twenty-two  more  of 
them  equivalent  or  synonymous  phrases 
are  used.  There  remain  only  eight  and 
all  these  relate  to  some  matter  in  which 
mention  of  his  kindliness  would  not  be 
pertinent.  This  is  a  most  remarkable 
agreement  among  witnesses.  I  do  not 
know  where  to  find  its  parallel,  especially 
as  these  witnesses  are  of  all  sorts, 
classes,  professions  and  characters. 
They  include  George  William  Curtis, 
the  editor;  General  Howard;  Secretary 
Seward  and  his  son;  Frank  B.  Carpen- 
ter, the  portrait  painter;  Grace  Green- 
wood, a  bright  and  intelligent  woman; 
public  officials.  Congressmen,  privates 
and  officers  in  the  Army.  INIoreover  to 
this  list  there  could  be  added  the  names 
of  many  other  people,  equally  varying 

[63] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  sort  and  condition,  who  have  in  other 
publications  stated  that  Lincoln  was 
"kind"  or  "kindly."  Indeed  practi- 
cally every  man  who  saw  him  and  made 
any  record  of  his  impressions  has  said 
this.  To  take  one  out  of  a  great  many, 
Charles  A.  Dana,  a  singularly  shrewd 
and  accurate  observer,  says  ^^ — "  There 
was  such  a  charm  and  beauty  about  his 
expression,  such  good  humor  and 
friendly  spirit  looking  from  his  eyes,^* 
that  when  you  were  with  him  you 
thought  of  notliing  except  '  What  a 
kindly  character  this  man  has.'  He  was 
kind  at  heart  to  all  the  world.  ...  I 
never  heard  him  say  a  harsh  word  to 
anybody,  I  never  heard  him  speak  a 
word  of  complaint  even.  ...  I  never 
heard  him  say  an  unkind  thing  about 
anybody.  Now  and  then  he  would  laugh 
at  something  jocose  or  satirical  that 
somebody  had  done  or  said  but  it  was 
always  pleasant  humor.  He  would 
never  allow  the  wants  of  any  man  or 
woman  to  go  unattended  to  if  he  could 

[64] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

help  it."  ^^  There  is  the  ever  recurring 
mention  of  Lincoln's  being  "  obliging " 
in  the  country  sense.  And  then  Dana 
tells  a  story  of  his  thoughtful  kindliness 
and  adds,  "  That  was  the  man — kindly 
and  affectionate  to  everj^body." 

It  is  very  unusual  to  find  this  sort  of 
personal  kindliness  showing  in  business  or 
official  relations.  If  any  reader  will  stop 
to  consider  how  many  men  he  has  seen 
on  business  who  gave  him  the  impression 
of  being  kindly,  he  will  begin  to  realize 
this.  It  becomes  extraordinary  and  un- 
matched when  one  considers  that  Lincoln 
was  engrossed  in  great  affairs,  working 
to  the  limit  of  his  strength,  full  of  trou- 
bles,^*' often  very  anxious,  often  greatly 
perplexed  and  cruelly  harassed, — almost 
all  the  time  very  tired  and  part  of  the 
time,  at  least,  run  down  physically  and 
near  the  breaking  point." 

And  yet  you  may  turn  anywhere  in 
his  life  at  Washington  and  you  come 
across  this  deep  kindliness  of  manner 
and    act.      Thus,    turn    to   his    relations 

[65] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

With  committees  and  deputations  who 
came  to  see  him  and  you  meet  with  the 
accounts  of  an  audience  which  he  gave 
to  a  delegation  of  ISIissourians  opposed 
to  Lincoln's  policy  in  regard  to  the  fac- 
tional politics  of  that  State.  This  mat- 
ter, as  is  well  known,  gave  him  a  great 
deal  of  serious  trouble,  and  the  way 
intelligent  Missourians  behaved  was 
enough  to  irritate  a  saint.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  Chairman  read  aloud  an  ad- 
dress. Its  point  of  view  was  intensely 
partisan  and  consequently  distressing  to 
Lincoln.  Its  tone  was  fault-finding, 
peremptory,  demanding  and  improper. 
Nevertheless  his  reply,  which  was  long, 
was  entirely  kind.  Ex-Governor  John- 
son, one  of  the  Committee,  writing  about 
it,  said:  "  He  spoke  with  great  kindness. 
...  I  had  met  Mr.  Lincoln  twice  before 
then.  This  time  he  appeared  different 
from  what  he  had  on  the  two  former  occa- 
sions. There  was  a  perplexed  look  on 
his  face.  When  he  said  he  was  bothered 
about    this    thing,    he    showed    it.      He 

[66] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

spoke  kindly,  yet  now  and  then  there 
was  a  httle  rasping  tone  in  his  voice 
which  seemed  to  say :  '  You  men  ought 
to  fix  this  thing  up  without  tormenting 
me.'     But  he  never  lost  his  temper."  ®® 

Turn  to  his  relations  with  his  Cabinet, 
and  to  that  excited  meeting  after  Lin- 
coln had  restored  McClellan  to  com- 
mand. Most  if  not  all  of  his  Cabinet 
objected.  In  voicing  his  disapproval 
Stanton  was  as  disagreeable  and  bitter 
as  possible.  In  spite  of  this,  Secretary. 
Welles  who  was  present  says  that  the 
President's  "  language  and  manner  were 
kind  and  affectionate,  especially  toward 
two  of  the  members  who  were  greatly  dis- 
turbed." '' 

Turn  to  his  relations  with  his  Gen- 
erals. The  behavior  of  one  towards  Lin- 
coln was  inexcusable.  It  would  have 
justified  anger,  contempt,  resentment 
and  personal  antipathy.  Yet  none  of 
these  natural  feelings  were  shown  by 
Lincoln.  His  letters  and  telegrams  to 
General  McClellan  are  infused  with  real 

[67] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

emotional  kindliness  and  Colonel  ^Ic- 
Clure,  who  saw  Lincoln  many  times  dur- 
ing the  Campaign  of  1864  when  jMc- 
Clellan  was  his  competitor  for  the  Presi- 
dency and  there  was  no  possible  restraint 
on  Lincoln's  talking  as  would  come  nat- 
urally to  him,  "  never  heard  him  speak 
of  McClellan  in  any  other  than  terms  of 
the  highest  personal  respect  and  kind- 
ness." ''' 

Turning  from  his  relations  with  his 
officers  to  those  with  his  soldiers  wx  find 
Secretary  Stanton  expressing  himself 
thus,  "  It  seems  to  me  that  the  President 
would  rather  have  a  fuss  with  anybody 
than  miss  a  chance  to  do  a  kindness  to  a 
private  soldier."  ^^^ 

Here  we  have  again  recurring  the  same 
disposition  to  "  oblige  "  that  he  showed 
in  New  Salem  as  a  boy,  in  Springfield 
in  middle  life,  and  that  Mr.  Dana  men- 
tions twdce  ^^^  as  an  essential  character- 
istic of  Lincoln,  the  President. 

Then  consider  his  attitude  towards  the 
enemies  of  the  Union  he  loved  so  well, 

[68] 


A  LOVER  or  MANKIND 

and  one  finds  that  all  his  policy,  his 
speeches  and  his  acts  show  great  kindli- 
ness toward  them.  Isaac  Arnold — who 
from  being  in  Congress  during  the 
War  is  peculiarly  well  qualified  to 
express  an  opinion — states  in  his  Life 
of  Lincoln,^^^  that,  "  in  the  midst  of 
the  fierce  passions  and  bitter  animosities 
growing  out  of  the  war,  many  thought 
him  too  mild  and  forebearing;  but  his 
conviction  was  clear,  and  his  determina- 
tion firm,  that  when  there  was  a  sincere 
repentance,  then  there  should  be  pardon 
and  amnestv.  In  the  face  of  those  who 
sternly  demanded  punishment  and  con- 
fiscation, and  the  death  of  traitors  and 
conspirators,  he  declared :  '  When  a  man 
is  sincerely  penitent  for  his  misdeeds, 
and  gives  satisfactory  evidence  of  it,  he 
can  safely  be   pardoned.'  "  ^°* 

"  When  the  fiery  and  eloquent  Henry 
Winter  Davis,  the  stern,  blunt,  down- 
right Ben  Wade,  and  the  unforgiving 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  demanded  retalia- 
tion, confiscation,   death,   desolation  and 

[69] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

bloody  execution,  the  voice  of  Lincoln 
rose  clear  above  the  storm,  firm,  gentle, 
but  powerful,  like  the  voice  of  God. 
*  With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God 
gives  us  to  see  the  right,'  he  hushed  the 
raging  storm  of  passion,  and  brought 
back  peace  and  reconciliation." 

"To  this  day,  the  South  does  not  ap- 
preciate nor  does  the  w^orld  know,  how 
much  the  Confederates  are  indebted  to 
the  humane,  kind,  almost  divine  spirit 
of  Lincoln." 

And  with  this  passage  compare  the  strik- 
ing words  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the 
noblest  man  with  the  deepest  perceptions 
of  all  the  leaders  of  the  South:  "  I  knew 
Mr.  Lincoln  well.  .  .  .  Every  fountain 
of  his  heart  was  ever  over-flowing  with 
the  milk  of  human  kindness.  .  .  .  (His 
death)  was  the  climax  of  our  troubles, 
and  the  spring  from  which  came  un- 
numbered woes."  "^ 

And  by  way  of  further  illustrating  his 
disposition  to  the  enemies  of  his  country 

[70] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

General  Grant  can  be  quoted. ^^**  He 
said  that  Lincoln  "  always  showed  a 
generous  and  kindly  spirit  toward  the 
Southern  people  and  I  never  heard  him 
abuse  an  enemy."  And  Senator  Mor- 
gan of  Alabama,  who  fought  on  the  side 
of  the  South,  said:  ^'^^  "His  most  con- 
spicuous virtue  as  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  was  the  absence 
of  a  spirit  of  resentment  or  oppression 
toward  the  enemy."  ^^^  And  Governor 
Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  a  man  of 
character  and  intelligence,  has  stated  ^°® 
in  a  carefully  considered  study  of  Lin- 
coln that  "  President  Lincoln  excelled  all 
his  contemporaries  as  he  also  excelled 
most  of  the  eminent  rulers  of  every  time 
in  the  humanity  of  his  nature." 

This  kindliness  towards  those  who  were 
participating  in  a  rebellion  against  the 
government  of  which  Lincoln  was  the 
head  showed  itself  in  a  curious  and  in- 
tensely characteristic  way.  He  did  not 
hesitate  to  call  things  by  their  right 
names  and  to  say:  "  Ours  is  a  case  of 

[71] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

rebellion — so-called  by  the  resolutions  be- 
fore me — in  fact,  a  clear,  flagrant  and 
gigantic  case  of  rebellion."  ^^^  But  when 
he  spoke  of  the  men  engaged  in  maintain- 
ing this  rebellion  he  refrained  from  speak- 
ing of  them  as  "  rebels  "  and  habitually 
called  them  "  confederates  "  or  "  those 
Southern  gentlemen."  "^  They  were 
men  and  brothers,  whatever  the  nature  of 
the  enterprise  they  were  engaged  in. 

Lincoln's  kindness  to  the  enemies  of 
his  country  is  all  the  more  striking  when 
one  considers  that  the  temper  of  the 
times  and  of  many  good  men  was  very 
different.  For  instance,  so  wise,  friendly, 
and  humane  a  man  as  Governor 
Andrew  of  Massachusetts  issued  a 
"  Proclamation  by  the  Governor  and 
Commander  in  Chief,"  addressed  to 
"  Men  of  Massachusetts  !  ! ",  which  be- 
gins, "  The  wily  and  barbarous  horde  of 
traitors  .  .  .  again  menace  the  National 
Capitol."  "^ 

Lastly,  turn  and  consider  Lincoln's  atti- 
tude toward  those  who,  making  a  grievous 

[72] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

mistake,  hated  him  personally.  He  him- 
self described  his  feeling  toward  them  in 
a  talk  he  had  with  James  S.  Rollins, 
a  Congressman  from  JNIissouri  during 
the  War.  Mr.  Rollins  spoke  to  Lincoln 
early  in  1865  of  a  plot  to  assassinate 
him.  "  Pausing  a  moment,  the  smile 
which  had  just  lighted  up  his  face  de- 
parted and  a  certain  melancholy  expres- 
sion took  its  place,  and  he  said  seriously, 
and  in  language  which  he  evidently  felt, 
*  Rollins,  I  don't  see  what  on  God's 
earth  any  man  would  wish  to  kill  me  for, 
for  there  is  not  a  human  being  living 
to  whom  I  would  not  extend  a  favor, 
and  make  them  happy  if  it  was  in  my 
power  to  do  so.'  "  ^^^ 

These  words  must  be  sharply  differ- 
entiated from  the  many  stories  of  rulers, 
reformers  and  teachers  who  before  being 
assassinated  have  expressed  surprise  that 
anybody  should  wish  to  kill  them  because, 
forsooth,  whatever  causes  of  hatred  they 
had  given,  they  had  done  nothing  but 
"  for  the  public  good," — a  matter  about 

[73] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

which  they  were  often  mistaken  and 
never  could  be  certain.  Lincoln's  atti- 
tude had  no  assumption  of  being  a  mis- 
understood benefactor  nor  any  self- 
complacency.  It  was  simply  that  there 
was  nobody,  not  even  a  prospective 
murderer,  to  whom  he  was  not  ready 
to  do  a  good  turn.  It  was  but  an- 
other manifestation  of  his  ever  willing 
and  constant  disposition  to  be  "  obliging  " 
to  everybody. 

This  general  kindliness  to  strangers, 
to  his  acquaintances,  to  his  friends,  to  his 
critics,  however  harsh  and  ill-mannered,  to 
those  who  were  the  enemies  of  the  Union 
he  had  taken  oath  to  preserve  and  to  those 
who  were  personally  hostile  to  him,  was 
the  last  and  greatest  expression  of  his 
disposition.  If  we  consider  his  position, 
his  masterfulness,  his  firmness,  his  self- 
reliance,  if  we  then  consider  his  occupa- 
pations,  his  trials,  his  difficulties,  the  con- 
stant and  enormous  wear  and  tear  and 
nervous  strain  of  the  time,  it  becomes 
something  which  the  whole  world  has  never 

[74] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

seen  under  approachingly  similar  circum- 
stances in  another  man. 

To  appreciate  its  full  wonder  and 
beauty,  we  must  catch  a  peculiar  note 
sometimes  struck  by  him,  the  note  of  a 
particular  tenderness  and  affection  in 
his  kindliness.  This  is  best  described  in 
the  words  of  those  who  felt  it.  Thus 
General  Howard,  speaking  of  an  inter- 
view with  the  President  in  his  tent  after 
a  review,  says,^^*  "  He  was  very  kind 
and  fatherly/'  And  JMr.  George  William 
Curtis,  who,  like  General  Howard,  was 
peculiarly  sensitive  to  sentimental  ex- 
pressions and  could  correctly  describe 
them,  wrote  of  an  interview  with  Lin- 
coln as  follows :^^^  "When  we  rose  to 
leave  Mr.  Lincoln  accompanied  us  to  the 
door  of  the  room  and  as  he  shook  my 
hand  and  said  good-bye,  he  said  with  a 
paternal  kindness  and  evident  profound 
conviction:  '  We  shall  beat  them,  my 
son — we  shall  beat  them.'"  And  when 
that  proud  and  vainglorious  officer. 
General  Hooker,  received  and  read  the 

[75] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

famous  letter  Lincoln  wrote  to  him  ap- 
pointing him  to  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  he  turned  to  Noah 
Brooks  and  said:^^^  "That  is  just  such 
a  letter  as  a  father  might  write  to  a  son. 
It  is  a  beautiful  letter,  and  although  I 
think  he  was  harder  on  me  than  I  de- 
served, I  will  say  that  I  love  the  man 
who  wrote  it."  ^"  And  lastly  there  are 
two  little  statements  which  strikingly 
illustrate  this  fatherly  note.  Each  of  the 
narrators  was  a  telegrapher  in  the  War 
Department  during  the  War.  These 
men  and  some  others  occupied  a  room  to 
which  Lincoln  often  came  for  news. 

One  of  them  has  written  in  his  remi- 
niscences "^  that  "  in  our  cipher  code 
were  several  words,  each  translated  *  Jef- 
ferson Davis.'  Other  words  stood  for 
*  Robert  E.  Lee'  and  so  on.  Whenever 
Mr.  Lincoln  came  to  these  words  (in 
reading  aloud  the  messages  we  received 
as  was  his  custom),  he  would  shorten 
or  transform  them  into  something  else, 
for  instance,  *  Jeffy  D.,'   *  Bobby  Lee,' 

[76] 


A  LOVER  OF  MAXKIXD 

etc.,  SO  that  there  seemed  to  go  out  from 
him  at  such  times,  and  indeed  on  many 
other  occasions,  a  gentle,  kindly  influ- 
ence. He  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Rebellion  as  ^wayward 
sons  rather  than  as  traitorous  brethren." 

The  other  man  wrote  in  his  diary  the 
morning  after  Lincoln's  assassination, 
"  Our  office  feels  most  keenly  the  afflic- 
tion which  has  thus  been  brought  to  the 
whole  country  in  the  death  of  Abraham 
Lincoln ;  for  we  had  learned  to  look  upon 
him  in  his  daily  visits  there  almost  as  a 
companion,  while  we  venerated  him  as  a 
father  for  his  goodness"  ^^^ 

This  note  of  f atherlv  affection  that  Lin- 
coin  displayed  gives  the  deepest  measure 
of  his  kindliness  and  shows  how  sincere, 
uncalculated,  spontaneous  and  emotional 
it  was.^^^ 

The  poet,  with  the  poet's  vision,  per- 
ceived this  paternally  affectionate  qual- 
ity in  Lincoln's  demeanor  and  voiced  it 
in  the  well  known  chorus — "  We  are 
coming.  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred 

[77] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

thousand  strong."  And  with  that  in- 
stinctive response  which  men  give  to  a 
truth  when  properly  uttered  by  seer  or 
poet  or  prophet,  this  song  was  taken  up 
and  sung  by  countless  voices  through  the 
cities  of  the  North  and  by  the  Armies  of 
the  Republic  in  the  field;  men  and  boys, 
officers  and  privates  found  something  that 
rang  true  to  their  minds  and  hearts  in 
calling  the  President  of  their  republican 
country,  however  much  he  might  be  criti- 
cized and  condemned, — "  Father  Abra- 
ham." ''' 

It  is  a  great  pity,  however,  to  exagger- 
ate this  feeling  and,  as  some  writers  have, 
sentimentalize  about  it.^^^  The  easiest 
way  to  avoid  this  is  to  remember  that 
Lincoln's  kindliness,  of  which  this  pater- 
nal note  was  an  expression,  sprang  from 
his  disposition,  which  manifested  itself  in 
various  ways.  The  man  or  men  to  or  of 
whom  he  was  speaking  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  and  place  governed 
the  manifestation.  Under  some  condi- 
tions he  was  jovial  and  sociable,  under 

[78] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

others  friendly,  kindly  and  obliging,  un- 
der still  others,  and  more  rarely,  affec- 
tionate and  fatherly.  But  the  liking  was 
always  there. 

It  would  be  easy  to  go  on  and  show 
manifestations  of  this  general  liking 
other  than  those  which  have  been  illus- 
trated in  this  essay.  For  instance,  there 
is  one  so  peculiarly  characteristic  of  a 
disposition  to  like  men  generally  that  a 
few  words  about  it  will  materially  add 
to  our  conception  of  Lincoln's  disposi- 
tion. Without  going  too  deeply  into  the 
psychology  of  liking  we  all  know  that 
when  we  like  a  man  we  are  rather  blind 
to  his  faults,  and  if  they  are  brought  to 
our  attention  we  slur  them  over  and 
say  all  the  good  we  know,  even  if  it  be 
irrelevant,  of  the  person  in  question. 
This  trait  is  universal.  Now  a  dis- 
position to  like  men  presupposes  lik- 
ing being  shown  to  many  in  exactly  the 
same  ways  that  the  average  individual 
shows  it  to  any  one  of  the  few  he  likes. 
Hence  if  we  can  find  this  mode  of  ex- 

[79] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

pressing  liking  shown  to  a  number  of 
men  who  are  faulty,  and  especially  to  a 
segregated  class  of  evil-doers,  there  is  a 
most  perfect  characteristic  of  the  dis- 
position. And  by  great  good  fortune 
this  exists  in  Lincoln's  case. 

In  1841  he  made  a  speech  in  Spring- 
field before  the  Washington  Temperance 
Society .^^^  In  the  course  of  tliis  speech 
he  said  in  reference  to  drunkards,  "  They 
are  not  demons,  nor  even  the  worst  of 
men,  generally  they  are  kind,  generous 
and  charitable,  even  beyond  the  example 
of  their  more  staid  and  sober  neighbors." 
..."  Indeed  I  believe  if  we  take  habit- 
ual drunkards  as  a  class,  their  heads  and 
their  hearts  will  bear  an  advantageous 
comparison  with  those  of  any  other  class.' ' 

These  words  coming  from  one  who  was 
a  total  abstainer  on  principle,  though  liv- 
ing in  a  community  where  drinking  was 
extraordinarily  prevalent,^^*  are  very 
striking.  They  are  not  the  product  of 
ignorance  or  of  folly  but  are  simply  the 
natural  expression  of  Lincoln's  disposi- 

[80] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

tion.  His  words  are  not  of  hatred  nor 
indifference  nor  condemnation;  hence 
they  must  be  words  of  Hking,  and  are 
especially  typical  words  of  liking  in 
that  they  pass  over  the  sin  and  dwell 
en  the  good  qualities  of  the  sinner.  I 
do  not  mean  that  Lincoln  liked  drunkards 
as  such,  but  he  liked  men  and  the 
catholicity  of  his  liking  was  so  great  that 
the  mere  fact  that  drunkenness  was  an 
evil  tiling  did  not  cause  him  to  banish 
drunkards  from  the  category"  of  men. 
"  They  are  not  demons,"  he  says.  On  the 
contrary  they  are  men;  and  being  men 
he  liked  them  and  says  good  of  them. 
It  is  exactly  what  an  ordinary  man 
might  say  of  one  particular  drunkard 
known  to  him  extended  by  the  force 
of  Lincoln's  disposition  to  include  many 
drunkards,  some  known  to  him,  others 
unknown.  If  only  this  one  speech  ex- 
isted, it  would  need  little  more  to  show 
how  broad  and  deep  Lincoln's  disposi- 
tion to  hke  men  was. 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  unnecessary  to 

[81] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

consider  still  other  manifestations  of  his 
liking,  especially  as  it  would  compel 
this  essay  to  be  extended  into  a  complete 
study  of  his  disposition  and  of  its  rela- 
tions with  his  other  great  qualities,  while 
its  only  purpose  is  to  prove  beyond  all 
peradventure  that  he  had  a  disposition  of 
a  particular  kind. 

There  is  real  value  in  doing  this. 
Apart  from  ascertaining  the  Truth, 
which  is  always  an  end  of  itself,  it 
makes  the  character  of  Lincoln  more 
intelligible. 

There  are  many  things  in  Lincoln's 
life  and  in  his  character,  disposition  and 
abilities  which  encourage  extravagance 
of  statement  and  especially  the  opinion 
of  his  being  a  mysterious  and  inexpli- 
cable personage.^^^  Not  until  we  have 
studied  his  life  in  relation  to  the  lives 
of  other  Americans  similarly  situated,^'^ 
and  not  until  we  thoroughly  understand 
the  main  traits  and  qualities  that  he  pos- 
sessed could  such  statements,  if  at  all,  be 
justified.  And  then  they  would,  if  proved 

[82] 


A  LOVER  OF  MANKIND 

to  be  true,  be  a  misfortune  to  his  race. 
For  there  is  nothing  in  an  abnormal 
character  of  encouragement  or  of  hght  on 
the  path  which  for  countless  more  gen- 
erations men  must  excitedly,  yet  blindly, 
pursue.  Herein  lies  the  value  of  having 
it  made  clear  that  much  in  Lincoln's  life 
was  determined  by  a  disposition  which  so 
far  as  its  kind  goes  is  well  known  and 
familiar.  All  its  exceptionality  lay  in  its 
greatness  and  force. 

In  these  respects  it  is  exceeded  by 
that  of  no  recorded  man.  Beyond  say- 
ing this  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  give  a 
measure  in  words  to  Lincoln's  disposition. 
There  is  no  scale  as  wdth  the  intelligence. 
With  that  the  term  genius  designates  the 
highest  manifestations.  We  can,  how- 
ever, say  that  as  the  most  supreme  genius 
is  to  the  average  man's  intelligence,  so 
w^as  Lincoln's  disposition  to  the  average 
man's.  Joshua  Speed,  who  knew  Lincoln 
well,  corroborates  this  by  saying  that 
Lincoln  was  "  a  common  man  expanded 
into  giant  proportions."  "^    And  there  is 

I  S3] 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

no  disparagement  in  that  idea,  for  of  the 
man,  who  has  been  worshipped  by  more 
men  and  women  than  any  other,  the 
Japanese  reverently  say,  "  Even  the 
Great  Buddha  was  a  common  man." 


FINIS 


[84] 


NOTES 

The  Portrait  of  Lincoln  at  the  beginning  of  this 
essay  is  a  reproduction  of  a  photograph  made  by 
Gardner  of  Washington  and  "  published  by  Philp 
and  Solomons  ^'  of  Washington.  I  believe  it  has 
never  before  been  reproduced,  and  it  is  noteworthy 
as  being  the  only  portrait  of  Lincoln  that  I  know 
that  represents  him  as  smiling. 


The  abbreviations   of  the   Titles   of  the  Books 
referred  to  in  the  following  Notes  are  as  follows: 

"  T."— The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  Ida  M. 
Tarbell,  in  two  volumes,  published  by  The 
Doubleday  &   McClure   Company,   1900. 

*'  T.'s  Early  Life."— The  Early  Life  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  by  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  assisted  by  J. 
McCan  Davis,  published  by  S.  S.  McClure 
Limited,   1896. 

**  R.  R." — Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by 
Distinguished  Men  of  his  Time — Collected 
and  Edited  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice,  pub- 
lished   by    The    North    American    Review, 

1889. 

**  B." — Abraham  Lincoln  by  Henry  Bryan  Binns, 
in  the  Temple  Biographies  Series,  pub- 
lished by  J.  M.  Dent  &  Co.,   1907. 

"  Hill  " — Lincoln  The  Lawyer  by  Frederick  Trev- 

[85] 


NOTES 

or  Hill^  published  by  The  Century  Com- 
pany, 1906. 

**  R." — Lincoln — Master  of  Men,  A  Study  in  Char- 
acter  by  Alonzo  Rothschild,  published  by 
Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Company,  I906. 

"  O." — Abraham  Lincoln  by  Ellis  Paxson  Ober- 
holtzer,  in  American  Crisis  Biographies 
Series,  published  by  George  W.  Jacobs  & 
Company,    1904. 

"  A.  L.  T." — Abraham  Lincoln — Tributes  from 
His  Associates — Reminiscences  of  Soldiers, 
Statesmen  and  Citizens,  published  by 
Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Company,  1895. 

"L.  M.  A."— The  Lincoln  Memorial— Collected 
and  Edited  by  Osborn  H.  Oldroyd,  pub- 
lished by  Lincoln  Publishing  Company  of 
Springfield,    Illinois,    1890. 

"A." — The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  Isaac  W. 
Arnold,  published  by  A.  C.  McClurg  & 
Company,  1893. 

*'  N.  &  H." — Abraham  Lincoln — A  History  by 
John  G.  Nicolay  and  John  Hay,  published 
by  The  Century  Company,  1890. 

"L."— The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  Ward 
H.  Lamon,  published  by  James  R.  Osgood 
and  Company,  1872, 

"  H." — Herndon's  Lincoln  by  William  H.  Hern- 
don  and  Jesse  William  Weik,  published  by 
Belford-Clarke  Co.,    1890. 

**  W."— Lincoln  The  Citizen  by  Henry  C.  Whit- 
ney, published  by  The  Current  Literature 
Publishing   Company,    1907. 

"  L.  &  H." — Lincoln  and  Herndon  by  J.  F.  New- 
ton, published  by  The  Torch  Press,  19 10. 

[86] 


NOTES 


*  James  Russell  Lowell's  Essay  on  "  Chaucer  " 
in  Collected  Works,  Riverside  Edition^  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  365. 

^  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  Vol.  IV,  Chap.  XI. 
3  Ibid.,  Vol.  V,  Chap.  XII. 

*  Said  by  Miss  Baillie  to  Charles  Eliot  Norton. 
^  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  Vol.  V,  Chap.  III. 

«  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  Chap.  I. 

'  Bagehot's  Essay  on  "  Shakespeare — the  Man  " 
in  "  Literary  Studies  " ;  also  in  Vol.  I  of  the 
Travellers  Insurance  Company's  edition  of  the 
Works  of  Walter  Bagehot,  pages  258,  269- 

^  Stanley  Lane-Poole's  Life  of  Saladin,  in 
**  Heroes  of  Nations  "  Series,  Chap.  XXII,  on 
pages  368  et  seq.,  also  Chap.  XXIII. 

*  Ibid.,  on  pages  369  and  370. 

^^  Arthur  Hugh  Clough,  Poems,  v.  "  Jacob." 

^'^L.   M.   A.   302. 

^2  W.  170;  to  same  effect  G.  W.  Julian  in  R.  R. 
59  and  60. 

"L.  42,  43,  44;  L.  &  H.  316. 

1*  L.  55. 

^^L.  54,  83;  R.  R.  219,  463. 

"  I  T.  25 ;  T.'s  Early  Life,  90. 

^^  L.  53,  54. 

^«  L.  56,  57;  IT.  22;  T.'s  Early  Life,  64. 

"L.    57-61,  67. 

2«  L.  67. 

21  L.  80. 

"  I  T.  52-53;  T.'s  Early  Life,  105. 

2^1  N,  &  H.  78;  I  T.  61;  T.'s  Early  Life, 
118. 

**L.  $6;  H.  32. 

^^  I  T.  132. 

[87] 


NOTES 

2«L.  M.  A.  556;  I  T.  63,  106,  107;  T.'s  Early 
Life,  107  and  Chap.  IX. 

2^1  T.  106,  107;  T.'s  Early  Life,  Chap.  IX  et 
passim. 

28  1  T.  76;  T.'s  Early  Life,  137,  138. 

29 1  T.  Chap.  VI. 

30  I  T.  77;  T.'s  Early  Life,  141. 

31  T.'s  Early  Life,  158. 

32  I  T.  108;  cf.  89;  T.'s  Early  Life,  Chap.  XIII. 

33  1  T.  148;  cf.  62;  H.  187,  188. 
3*H.   188. 

35  H.   189,   190. 

36  1  T.  170. 

3^  T.  171;  L.  144. 

38  R.  R.  13;  L.  M.  A.  460;  to  same  effect  S.  S. 
(Sunset)  Cox  in  L.  M.  A.  464;  I  T.  145;  B.  337. 

3»  I  T.  210  and  209;  to  same  effect  Ben  Perley 
Poore  in  R.  R.  222. 

*«A.  77,  78;  L.  &  H.  29. 

*iR.  R.  217,  218;  cf.  I  T.  211. 

*2  Quoted  from  I  T.  208  and  210. 

*3A.  L.  T.  218. 

**I  T.  171. 

*5L.  470;  H.  589. 

«  A.  L.  T.  202. 

*^H.  318. 

*8  H.  609;  to  same  effect  W.  170. 

*9I  N.  &  H.  303;  H.  183;  I  T.  245. 

50W.  167. 

51 W.   190,  and  see   189- 

52  H.  310  et  seq. 

53L.  M.  A.  213. 

5*  "  Gladly  would  he  learne  and  gladly  teache/* 
see  H.  317;  L.  34,  70;  L.  M.  A.  520. 

[88] 


NOTES 

^'  On  Lincoln's  playing  ball^  see  text,  pages 
48  and  49;  also  L.  451;  and  I  T.  357. 

^«I  T.  243,  244;  and  see  Hill,  172,  173,  and 
Chap.  XVI;  also  R.  R.  15. 

"  Hill,  167;  and  see  Chap.  XVI. 

'^^Hill,  168;  and  see  Chap.  XVI. 

In  considering  Lincoln's  love  of  club  life, 
and  remembering  that  the  village  store  has  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  a  club,  a  man  who  did  not 
like  meeting  with  his  fellowmen  and  holding  con- 
verse with  them  could  hardly  have  lived  the  life 
Lincoln  did,  in  which  store  life  played  so  great 
a  part;  for  not  only  did  he  frequent  Jones'  store 
at  Gentryville,  but  later  on,  when  he  settled  at  New 
Salem,  he  became  a  clerk  in  Offutt's  store  and 
subsequently  was  a  storekeeper  himself.  Still 
later  he  lived  with  a  storekeeper  over  his  store 
in  Springfield,  and  was  one  of  a  coterie  of  young 
men  who  made  the  store  their  headquarters  and 
club.  And  in  the  following  years  at  Springfield 
and  in  the  country  he  often  joined  a  crowd  at 
"  the  store "  to  tell  stories  or  discuss  politics. 
And  also  consider  his  being  postmaster  at  New 
Salem  for  a  time.  The  village  post  office  partakes 
in  a  measure  of  being  a  club,  and  the  postmaster 
has  "  endless  opportunities  for  sociability,  discus- 
sion and  gossip;"  see  B.  44. 

'^^  L.  E.  Chittenden's  "  Personal  Reminiscences," 
S65. 

^^  See  note  49 ;  cf .  Isaac  N.  Arnold's  statement 
that  Lincoln  **  brought  light  with  him,"  quoted  in 
N.  &  H.  308. 

®^  See  note   38. 

«2  II  Don  Quixote,  (Duffield's  Translation),  486. 

[89] 


NOTES 

"  For  four  years  he  wielded  a  power  and  a  per- 
sonal authority  greater  than  that  exercised  by  any 
monarch  on  earth,"  says  a  writer  in  the  London 
Spectator  of  April  25,  1891. 

"^  L.  M.  A.  367;  of.  R.  R.  230,  and  241,  242. 

«*  II  T.  88. 

^^See  note  55, 

^«A.  L.  T.  118;  for  another  instance  see  R.  R. 
418,  419. 

^' A.  L.  T.   159,   165. 

««  II  T.  235,  236. 

^^  B.  337;  and  cf.  references  cited  in  note 
38. 

^®  See    page    17. 

'"■  I  T.  107;  B.  327,  328;  L.  41,  144;  R.  R.  360, 
507;  H.  116. 

^2  Ward  Hill  Lamon's  "  Recollections  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,"  Chap.  X;  cf.  I  T.  235,  236;  H. 
487. 

'^  I  T.  40. 

^*W.  41;  cf.  L.  35,40. 

'^L.  41;  I  T.  44. 

^«I  T.  106. 

"L.  38,  41;  cf.  H.  124. 

^«L.   M.  A.  518. 

^»I  T.  106;  cf.  H.  124,  125. 

«**A.  L.  T.  204;cf.  I  T.  246. 

®^  On  this  whole  paragraph,  see  L.  6S ;  W.  43, 
47,  145,  and  183;  A.  416;  Pearson's  Life  of  Gov- 
ernor Andrew,  I,  307;  and  B.  358. 

«'W.  196;  R.  R.  17. 

^^  Hill,  passim,  and  especially  Chaps.  XI  and 
XVIII. 

«*I  T.  247;  cf.  R.  R.  14,  77. 

[90] 


NOTES 

^^  N.  &  H.  303;  cf.  I  T.  247;  and  L.  E.  Chitten- 
den's *'  Personal  Reminiscences,"  366. 

«« Albert  Bushnell  Hart's  Life  of  Salmon  P. 
Chase  in  American  Statesmen,  308 ;  O.  239,  242, 
320,  350  and  364;  "the  intolerable  weight  of  re- 
sponsibility which  the  war  threw  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  President,"  says  a  writer  in  the  London 
Spectator   of  April   25,   1891. 

"  W.  196;  R.  R.  55,  61,69. 

^^  "  The  Early  Years  of  Abraham  Lincoln  "  in 
*'  Lectures  and  Essays."     Cf.  R.  R.  286. 

^^  Isaac  Arnold  in  his  Life  of  Lincoln  says 
(453),  "  Here  (i.e.  in  his  room  in  the  White 
House)  day  after  day,  often  from  early  morning 
to  late  at  night,  Lincoln  sat,  listened,  talked  and 
decided.  He  was  patient,  just,  considerate  and 
hopeful.  The  people  came  to  him  as  to  a  father. 
He  saw  everyone,  and  many  wasted  his  precious 
time." 

»^R.  R.  236,  338;  Oberholtzer  in  his  Life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  on  page  324  speaks  of  Lincoln's 
"fatherly  way  to  visitors;"  cf.  R.  R.  195,  507; 
sometimes  he  would  address  a  man  as  "  my  son," 
A.  L.  T.  2;  II  T.  188  ;  and  a  woman  as  "  my  child," 
R.  R.  360.  Sir  W.  H.  Russell  noted  in  describing 
Lincoln's  face  "  the  combination  of  kindliness  and 
bonhomie  in  it,"  see  "  My  Diary  North  and  South  " 
under  date  of  March,  I860.  Mr.  J.  R.  Gilmore  in 
his  "  Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  the  Civil  War  "  speaks  of  Lincoln's  eye  being 
"  the  deepest,  saddest  and  yet  kindliest  eye  I  have 
ever  seen." 

®^  Harper's  Magazine,  June,   1900;  cf.  A.  458. 

*^  "  Abraham  Lincoln — Tributes  from  his  Asso- 

[91] 


NOTES 

ciates — Reminiscences  of  Soldiers,  Statesmen_,  and 
Citizens/'  published  by  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  1895. 

^3  In  "  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War/'  173,  184, 
and  cf.  174. 

^*  To  the  same  in  effect  Sir  W.  H.  Russell  noted 
the  combination  of  kindliness  and  bonhomie  in  Lin- 
coln's face,  see  "  My  Diary  North  and  South " 
under  date  of  March,  I860. 

^^Cf.  R.   R.  4-1,   100;  cf.  B.  327,  328. 

^«  B.  327,  347. 

®'  Gorham's  Life  of  Stanton,  I,  346 ;  cf .  Walt 
Whitman's  "Wound  Dresser"  90;  B.  289,  299, 
328,  336. 

®^  II  T.  176;  for  another  illustration,  see  R.  R. 
53y  54;  cf.  also  Lincoln's  "cheerful  and  cordial" 
manner  to  the  representatives  of  the  Confederacy 
at  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference,  as  observed  by 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  see  The  War  between  the 
States,  II,  599  et  seq.,  6l3,  614,  6l8. 

^^  Welles  quoting  from  his  own  Diary  in  his 
"  Lincoln  and  Seward,"  194-196;  cf.  R.  280. 

^«*^  In  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,  187;  cf. 
O.  234;  R.  392. 

^^^  R.  280,  and  in  North  American  Review  clxiii, 
672-675. 

^<^2  See  note  93. 

^•^3  A.  416,  417. 

^°*  Cf.,  "  When  the  wicked  man  turnetb  away 
from  wickedness  he  hath  committed  and  doeth 
that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his 
soul  alive." 

^^^  Quoted  in  B.  344. 

i««  Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,  II,  423. 

^•^^A.  L.  T.  130. 

[92] 


NOTES 

108  Cf.  B.  318. 

109  A.  L.  T.  91. 

110  Quoted  in  II  T.   185. 

111  II  T.  155,  l6l;  in  the  Second  Inaugural 
Address  they  are  called  "  insurgents."  Cf.  Alex- 
ander H.  Stephens'  "  The  War  Between  the 
States,"  II,  599  et  seq.,  6l3,  614,  and  618. 

11^  Pearson's  Life  of  Governor  Andrew,  II,  17. 

The  strain  of  the  war  produced  great  irritability 
in  many  men.  The  most  conspicuous  offenders 
were  E.  M.  Stanton  and  Horace  Greeley.  Yet 
although  a  victim  at  times  of  both  these  men's 
intense  disagreeableness  Lincoln  was  invariably 
kindly  to  both.  As  regards  Stanton,  see  R.  Chap. 
VI,  entitled,  "  The  Curbing  of  Stanton."  As  re- 
gards Greeley,  see  Lincoln's  famous  letter  to  him 
in  answer  to  his  most  offensive  one,  in  "  Abraham 
Lincoln — Complete  Works,"  published  by  The 
Century  Co.,  Vol.  Two,  227.  In  spite  of  the 
petulant,  unjust,  unkind  and  insulting  letter  of 
Greelev,  this  letter  is  very  kind  in  tone.  Unless 
Lincoln  had  a  real  liking  for  Greeley  it  is  almost 
inconceivable  that  he  could  have  written  as  he  did. 
Dislike  and  resentment  would  have  shown  them- 
selves. And,  as  a  very  intelligent  man  says,  "  Any 
man  who  could  like  Horace  Greeley  needs  no 
other  justification  as  a  brother-man." 

113  L.  M.  A.  501,  502. 

11*  A.  L.  T.  39. 

^"A.  L.  T.  2. 

11®  Noah  Brooks'  "  Washington  in  Lincoln's 
Time,"  52,  53. 


11^  See  note  120. 
ii«  A.  L.  T.  229. 


[93] 


NOTES 

"»A.  L.  T.  166;  cf.  R.  R.  195. 

^^^  For  further  comments  on  and  illustrations 
of  this  "  fatherly  note/'  see  II  T.  188;  R.  392;  O. 
234,  235,  244,  251;  A.  453;  Robert  G.  Inger- 
soU's  "Lincoln,"  passim;  Charles  G.  Leland's 
Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  244;  and  references 
cited  in  note  90  above. 

121  Cf.  R.  R.   112,   113. 

i"Cf.  a  mushy  poem  entitled  "Father  Abra- 
ham" in  "Collier's  Weekly,"  for  February  15, 
1908. 

12^  "  Abraham  Lincoln — Complete  Works,"  pub- 
lished by  The  Century  Co.,  Vol.  One,  57,  59,  62. 

12*  Ibid.,  59,  where  Lincoln  says,  "  When  all 
such  of  us  as  have  now  reached  the  years  of 
maturity  first  opened  our  eyes  upon  the  stage  of 
existence,  we  found  intoxicating  liquor  recognized 
by  everybody,  used  by  everybody,  repudiated  by 
nobody.  .  .  .  Universal  public  opinion  not  only 
tolerated  but  recognized  and  adopted  its  use." 
To  the  same  effect  are  all  contemporary  observers. 

125  Cf.  a  most  remarkable  passage  at  the  end 
of  Mr.  John  T.  Morse  Jr.'s  Life  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  "  American  Statesmen,"  in  Vol.  II  on 
pages  355,  356,  357,  which  as  a  whole  and  in 
many  particulars  I  believe  to  be  untrue  and  ex- 
tremely misleading.  In  any  event  no  such  words 
have  ever  before  been  written  by  an  experienced 
and  sober  biographer  of  a  person  of  admittedly 
human   origin. 

i2«  There  was  a  great  deal  in  Lincoln's  life  that 
was  common  to  many  Americans  born  in  the  Mid- 
dle West  during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century, 
for   instance,   existence   in   a   log   cabin   far   from 

[94] 


NOTES 

civilization.  In  these  respects  he  was  not  peculiar, 
although  the  constant  dwelling  on  them  by  his 
biographers  tend  to  make  him  seem  so.  So  there 
was  much  else  in  his  life  common  to  many  men, 
which  his  biographers  tend  to  make  unduly 
peculiar  to  himself,  for  instance,  his  first  love 
affair. 

^^^  B.  343;  cf.  the  words  of  a  writer  in  the  Lon- 
don Nation,  "  The  greatness  of  Lincoln  was  that 
of  a  common  man  raised  to  a  high  dimension," 
quoted  by  George  Haven  Putnam  in  his  book  en- 
titled "Abraham  Lincoln"  on  page  198,  and  also 
cf.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  words,  "  Lincoln  was  an 
immense  personality  "  in  R.  R.  on  page  312. 


FINIS 


[95] 


■»/ 


I 


I 


